


Stay Forever True

by charis_chan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:51:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 137,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2814275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charis_chan/pseuds/charis_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Per Sempre Vero: For one, Voldemort is dead and she is now something of a celebrity. For the other, she is alone and she is not liked. The two meet in an unpleasant way... what happens after? How can they cope with their new lives and the new bridges that will be built and those that will be burned? Who is Loony? But more importantly, who is Morgen? HG/LL. Rated M to be safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.
> 
> However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure.
> 
> I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.
> 
> "Speak."
> 
> 'Thoughts.'
> 
> Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits.
> 
> Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day. (Pretty much like nieces and nephews, you can spoil them, but they are not yours to rise. And you don't pay for them!)

**Chapter One- Loony**

“This is the third time, Miss Lovegood!”

Professor Flitwick stood in the middle of the stony hall. The little man’s face was red in anger and she could easily see the tiny veins that throbbed in his forehead, even though it was nearly midnight and the light was dull. He was hissing at a niche she could not really see from her place just around the corner, but she was sure who he was hissing at.

There was something strange about that girl.

It was not because of the several strange little things she used that acted as jewelry, nor was it because her face was more often than not stained. It was not because her hair was the longest she had ever seen, reaching almost her knees, nor was it because she always had that lost, faraway look in her icy eyes.

No.

This girl was different, but it had nothing to do with the way she looked.

She was pretty, sure. Her face has already lost the baby fat most her classmates still had, and she could easily see a womanly figure starting to develop. Her blonde hair swayed with every step she took and her pale blue eyes barely shone with the light, giving her a haunted air of… loneliness. Yes, the girl was lonely. The lithe blonde was always by herself, reading in the corners and little niches that overpopulated the castle. The students parted like the Red Sea every time they saw her approaching and everybody in her year made it to never be near the one they called Loony.

Luna Lovegood.

If she could remember the Sorting Ceremony that was the name this strange petit girl had. She was a Claw, but, strangely enough, her tie and robes didn’t bore the bronze/blue theme the others did. Her uniform was as black as they came when recently bought, and it was never worn properly. The skirt was always askew, the tie untied, the jacket untucked and she rarely wore the school socks, simply preferring those with rainbows, kittens or smiley faces.

Loony Lovegood.

That was the name the people called her. Be it her year-mates, housemates, classmates. Even the staff sometimes referred of her as that, but always in private and with each other, or in other words, when they thought nobody was near to hear them. Everybody knew of her, but there was barely anyone that knew her.

Ginny Weasley was her only friend. Or, rather, had been her only friend. The young Gryffindor had entered a year after her youngest brother, and two years later, Luna Lovegood had entered Ravenclaw. It had been painfully obvious that years in Hogwarts have changed Ginny as she no longer wanted to be the blonde’s friend, just as Ron’s year apart from Ginny had strained their own relationship.

Poor Luna, she had arrived to Hogwarts believing that Ginny would still be willing to play with her, just as they had done in the past. She had believed that Ron was the sweet boy she remembered from her childhood, where he would play the groom to her bride, while Ginny married the heavily mismatched couple.

She herself had wanted to meet the girl, but the opportunity had never presented itself. She had seen her in the library countless of occasions, yet every time she had tried to approach her Ron or Harry had appeared in front of her trying to bribe her to do their homework, or she would simply lose her before she could try and get up from her customary table in the little nook that her favorite bookcases made. She really wanted to talk to the girl, but it was never meant to happen.

Where she can easily concede that she was the last to really know the girl, the blonde had sparked enough of her curiosity to actually try and get to know facts about the girl… only to be smacked in the face with the knowledge that nobody knew about her and those who did simply spoke rubbish about her.

The girl was a mystery, she would easily concede she had many quirks, but what she was seeing was definitely something beyond what she thought possible of her.  
“Sorry, Professor.”

That voice. Merlin, she had never heard something smaller, more scared, more wounded. She had never heard the girl speak before, but certainly this whispered echo was not what she expected. The little girl’s voice trembled, in fear or cold, she was not sure. It was melodic, but she had the feeling that it was missing some warmth and joy. Why was this girl so scarred?  
“That would be twenty points from Ravenclaw, Miss Lovegood.” The exasperated Head of House nearly shouted. She had never seen the Professor this angry, this aggressive. This scary. She reacted before she could think.

“Uh, Professor Flitwick?” She walked slowly to where the man was, almost instantly seeing what the diminutive man was seeing.

She almost gasped.

Sure that was Luna Lovegood. But that was not the quirky second year Claw she had come to kind of know. This girl was a ghost. A little girl that had been broken so many times she was no longer human. This Luna was almost naked, only a thin camisole and a pair of white cotton panties protected her lithe body from the harsh December air. Her hair pointed everywhere and her cheeks were red and a little stained with dirt. Soft tears ran down her face, and, for the first time, her eyes shone with alarm.

“Ah, Miss Granger. I see you’re taking your role as Prefect seriously.” The half goblin smiled pleased.

‘How can he smile when Luna is there, terrified to death and freezing? The bastard is smiling!’ Hermione thought bitterly. “Yes, Professor.” She betrayed nothing of what was running through her head. “This is the last part of my rounds.” She looked at Luna, her features those of a neutral mask. If there was something she learnt at Hogwarts was that the less you showed of your emotions, the better you could deal with people. “What’s going on here?”

Flitwick immediately turned stern again. “Miss Lovegood is out of her dormitory and in a state of poor clothing, again.” He snarled.

‘Bad move there, Professor. Never get angry.’ She blinked. “And may I inquire why that is?” Sure the man was intelligent enough to know that no girl, no one really, would be out in this weather at midnight by their own will, right?

The man just scoffed. “Miss Lovegood is a strange creature, Miss Granger. She does things like this all the time.”

Hermione just managed to stop the snarl that wanted to come out to bite the small man’s head off. Wizards had no common sense, that was true enough, but this was just ridiculous. Luna whimpered. “But sure there is a reason why Miss Lovegood is out here, ill dressed, on the cold December air at midnight, yes?” ‘Please use your head for once, Filius! Someone did something to her, see the obvious man!’

Apparently her silent prod went unheard because the man just shrugged. “Miss Lovegood is a strange creature.” He repeated as he looked to the younger girl with something between pity and disgust. “You may leave to your dorm, girl. And no more wandering around!”

“Yes, Professor.” Luna said softly and started walking… the opposite way from Ravenclaw’s Tower.

“Good night, Professor.” Hermione half nodded, half bowed to the Charms Professor before he could even blink. “I must finish my rounds.”

“Very well, Miss Granger.” There was that stupid smile again. “Good night to you too.”

“Thank you Professor.” She turned and walked briskly, easily following Luna’s retreating form.  
The girl was not exactly quick, but she had managed to almost round the corner at the end of a long hallway and Hermione had to run to catch her. She needed to talk to her, to see if she was alright, to make sure she was safe. That look in her eyes, when Flitwick had called her strange to her face, had nearly broken her heart in two. The girl had been hurt by her Head of House, and he didn’t care.

“Miss Lovegood! Wait!” She called swiftly, reaching the girl after her speedy jog.

Luna stopped, dead in her tracks. She turned slowly, the hurt in her eyes gone only to be replaced by… nothing. The girl's face was void of emotion, she looked like a china doll. Her face was white as marble, stained with the mixture of tears and dirt. Her camisole easily showed how cold she was, but the barefoot girl didn’t speak, simply looked at her.

“Are you ok?” Hermione asked. She was given no answer. “What happened, Miss Lovegood?” The girl simply looked away.

Hermione huffed softly, and Luna flinched faintly. The oldest girl rose an eyebrow. “Miss Lovegood?”

“There are Moon Frogs hopping behind you.”

“Uh?” Looking slightly behind her, Hermione turned back just in time to stop a wandering Luna to escape her interrogation by holding her shoulder firmly with her right hand, noticing how the girl tensed. “Nice try, young lady, I’m not that easily distracted.” Slowly putting her left hand in the other shoulder she felt the icy skin beneath her warm one, yet the little body didn’t relax. “Now tell me. What is wrong?” Sure the girl had suffered from something, but the actual state of her clothes let her believe nothing too bad had happened. Or at least she hoped so.

Luna just look through her. Not at her, no, through her.

Hermione sighed. This was a lost cause and it was late. She would have finished her rounds way earlier if she hadn’t found a couple of third years snogging away near the Astronomy Tower and she was tired. ‘But then again, I wouldn’t have found Luna and Filius.’ Reaching to her chest she swiftly undo the clasp in her school robe and took it off. With a smile and a slight nod, she let the robe fall onto the other girl’s shoulders. While the robe was at least two sizes too big, and three inches too long, it did wonders for the freezing little Claw. “Come on, then, I’ll walk you to your dorm.” She easily held her by the arm and started walking from where they were coming.

“No.”

It was quiet, so quiet she was not sure exactly if the girl had spoken. “You said something?” Only to have a lifeless stare as her answer. ‘Figure as much.’ She just kept walking.

The girl didn’t resist, though she didn’t help either. She simply let herself been dragged through the school to the Ravenclaw Tower, besides the Gryffindor one.

Just when they were approaching the stairs that would led them to the bronze knocker when Luna came out of her stupor. “Stop.”

Hermione stopped. At least this time she did hear something. “What’s the matter?”

Luna finally looked at her. “Please, no.”

Hermione simply blinked. “No what?”

“Please.” It was said with so much emotion that the brunette was actually confused. A little moisture gathered at the corner of pale blue eyes. “Please.”

“Please what?” Hermione murmured. She could understand the girl was scared, but not of what.

“Please don’t make me go back!” And, then, Luna Lovegood broke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – The Nargle**

Luna Lovegood had always been a happy child. She had been raised by a loving mother and a doting father, both strong believers and strong magicians. Her mother was a Potion Master while her father was experienced in Magiczoology, and, a good writer.

Their little girl would not want for anything, as they did all they could for her. They took her with them on their journeys, they taught her magic and history, science and potions. She was well versed in several languages courtesy of their long adventures. They had let her grow at her own peace, at her own rhythm, as she wished. Being their only child, they saw no harm in doing so. The girl was born late in their lives, and they both knew she was their only chance at being parents.

That was why, when Selene Lovegood died after a potion accident, age seventy-one, little Luna’s life was completely broken.

Her father loved her, yes, but he was now incomplete. He had lost the partner that had accompanied him for more than thirty years. The man had been devastated from his beloved death, so he turned to elven leaves and strong firewhiskey in order to numb what could possibly be the most painful wound he had ever had: his thorn heart.

With the booze and drugs always in her father’s system, little seven-years-old Luna had to learn to fend for herself, one way or another. Because her parents believed that she would mature as she pleased, the girl was not exactly normal for most people standards. While kids were potty trained at age three, Luna only learnt the deed at six. While kids abandoned their bottles at four, Luna sometimes liked to go to bed with one at the time her mother died. At age nine she still fell asleep with her pacifier and a night light on.

When her mother died, she learnt somehow how to prepare her own food, and make her own bottles for comfort. She had to learn how to bath herself, because that was something her mother still enjoyed doing. She had to learn how to wash her clothes, how to clean her cuts, how to comb her hair, but that did not mean that she enjoyed it. She missed someone who could hold her, sing her to sleep, take care of her.

With no friends at the time other than Ginny, she had to provide for her own entertainment as well.

The creatures she had grown up hearing in bed time stories and legends suddenly came to life, swamping the lands where she grew up. There were no more travels for her and her father, but the beasts she had known from all around the world visited her in her imagination daily. Fairies danced with her at midnight and leprechauns liked to trade stories with her.

Little by little the only human friend she had ever had started to look at her with different eyes. Ginny was two years older, but that had never been a true impediment for their friendship. The redhead was no blind, though, she had always known that Luna was treated different as she was treated. At first she had believed it was because she had six older brothers, and that she was treated like one of them, not like the Lovegoods treated little Luna, a single child. But as she grew older and her mother started teaching her about boys and marriage, and babies, that she learnt that Luna was indeed, a big baby.

Her mother had babied her since birth and her father had done the same to appease her mother. Her mother would carry her around up until the day she died, while her father liked to rock her to sleep in a swing and her bottle. Luna was different, she was treated different. Molly did not like it, Arthur did not like it. Grandma Lovegood did not like it, and every adult that knew them did not like it. But Luna was used to it, so it didn’t matter.

From age seven to age eleven, little Luna decided not to grow as normal kids should, but instead decided to play in her own little world and learn the magic in the books her mother had left behind. She played with potions, with her mother’s wand and with every magical item her ancient house had. And because she was different, she had learnt to read at age two and liked to spend the hours she was not chasing Kappas and Gnomes reading and learning about the world she was born in.

So Luna was intelligent and knew her magic, but did not know a world different at the one she was raised in, that was why when her acceptance letter arrived, she, nor her father, could have been prepared for the strong contrast her home life and Hogwarts was.

XxXxX

“Miss Lovegood?” Hermione asked softly. The girl had simply crumbled in the hallway, silent tears were running down her cheeks and her small whimpers echoed in the late night. “Are you hurt?”

Hermione knew better than to ask if the girl was alright, because obviously she wasn’t, but she could not tell why the girl had simply burst into tears. Silently, as if dealing with one of Hagrid’s creatures, Hermione sat on the floor next to the younger girl and rested a warm hand on her head, softly scratching her scalp. This was something that her Grandmama did to her when she was scared. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Luna shook her head furiously. They told her not to tell, or else. She was not looking forward to find what _or else_ meant.

“Miss Lovegood. Tell me if you are hurt, or I’d have to take you to Madam Pomfrey to be safe.”

“No.” She whimpered. “Not her.”

Hermione frowned. “Then I’ll take you to the hospital wing and _I’ll_ check you over.” She knew one or two things about magical medicine, and Madame Pomfrey liked to teach her spells every time she visited the wing, that was at least once a month if only to have her cramps subsided.

“No. No ho-hospital.”

The brunette’s frown deepened. She wanted to help her, but she didn’t know how. “Please tell me what you want. How can I help?” The despair that she felt at the girl was too much for the mind focused girl. She was not used to deal with emotional issues, as she was not, by any means, an emotional person. But this, this girl, stirred feelings she did not know she had.

“Leave.” The word was broken, just as the girl saying it. And although the command was easy to understand, what Hermione heard was totally opposite to it. _Stay._

With a heavy heart and not exactly sure of what she was doing, the fifth year Gryffindor silently and wandlessly casted a featherlight spell on the girl and easily picked her up. Luna, even after all those years without positive human contact, simply left her legs go around the taller girl and her arms to rest in between them. The girl was tiny and, much to their surprise, fit almost perfectly onto Hermione’s form. “Let me take you somewhere warmer, uh?”

The blonde could not answer. She was being bombarded by the emotions Hermione’s simple act made her feel. It had been ages since she had been patted in the head, and even longer since she had been carried around. So, she simply nodded.

Her legs hurt, because she had been wandering the school for almost three hours now. Her feet hurt, they were so cold the freezing cobblestone on them sent needles of pain through her. Her hands hurt, from where she hit the door of her Tower for an hour. Her head hurt, she had not been eating and sleeping as she should. Her skin hurt, the biting air, promising a good snow soon, had cut onto her pale skin and she could almost see the red, angry, patches of burnt skin.

But, her legs were now resting, this brunette was carrying her to somewhere she should be safe. Her feet were starting to feel other than pain, as they were firmly secured on the other girl’s back. Her hands were safely tucked in between them, her tiny fists softly clenching the brunette’s blazer. Her skin felt warmer than she remember ever feeling within the school, because this girl’s robe was secured around her, protecting her, shielding her.

Luna Lovegood could not really focus other than what was happening at the time, but she could easily tell they were heading towards Gryffindor Tower, a place widely far from the Infirmary and from her own Tower. It was also apart from their Heads of House’s quarters and most of the classrooms, so she was sure they were surely going to the Gryffindor Common Room.

That little fact made her feel scared, at top of everything she was already feeling. The school’s rules were clear, no student from another House but their own could ever enter the Dorms of said House. She was a Ravenclaw, not a Gryffindor. She couldn’t enter the older girl’s House without violating that rule and risking punishment for both of them.

This girl was nice, she had seen her around in the library and the Great Hall at meals, but she had never spoken to her. She was part of the Golden Trio, the three kids that had defeated Voldemort mere months ago, just at the end of the Triwizards Tournament. She was best friend with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice, and Ronald Weasley, the Snake-Slayer. This witch was dubbed Morgen by the masses. Luna frowned, not really sure why the older brunette had that nickname.

She was smart, the smartest witch of this age, if what the Prophet said was the true. She was Muggleborn, age fifteen when Voldemort was killed. The girl had yet to sit through her OWL’s, but there were already whispers that many magical Universities wanted to recruit her, especially the ones in America.

Hermione Jean Granger. That was her name. And she had been nice to Luna. She had offered comfort in a way the brunette could not really understand, as Luna had missed hugs since her mother passed away. She was nice to her. She had tried to make Professor Flitwick to understand that there was indeed a reason she was almost naked and out of bed. She was nice to her. She had offered her robe, a really, really warm robe, that not only covered the shame of been almost naked, but also made her feel protected. She was nice to her.

So it would not do to get her in trouble just because she was trying to help.

“What’s the matter?” A surprised Hermione asked the little blonde in her arms. The girl was wriggling and trying to free her legs, clearly wanting to be put down. She obeyed only to found herself holding the girl’s shoulders again to prevent Luna to escape. “Hey, tell me what’s wrong?”

Luna looked at the warm eyes that were doing the job at holding her in place. The hands on her shoulders were not restricting, no, though those feel nice, yet it were the eyes that made her simply stay. Hermione dark orbs were a sea of calmness that swept through her and made her plans to flee leave. But, she was so not going to get the older witch in trouble. “Nargles and Wrackspurts can’t know the other’s nest.”

Hermione blinked once. Twice. That surely made no sense. “What are you talking about?”

Luna sighed. This girl was supposed to be bright, why could she not follow her? “Nargles and Wrackspurts can’t know the other’s nest.”

The brunette frowned. “I don’t know what a nargel and a wrackupus is.”

“Narg _l_ e and Wrack _spurt_.”

“Okay.” Hermione conceded. She remembered Ginny saying the girl liked to invent imaginary creatures. Maybe if she simply played along the girl would let her help her before it was dawn. “They can’t know the other’s nest, got it.” She picked up the still featherlighted girl, just because the little blonde would be chilly soon, of course, not because she enjoyed the feeling of her against her chest. It was late and she wanted to rest. Luckily it was Friday and she could sleep in tomorrow.

Luna frowned. Hermione was carrying her again and was still walking towards the Gryffindor Tower. “Wrackspurts can’t be in Nargles nests!” She said hurriedly into the older girl’s ear. “Wrackspurts can’t trouble Nargles!”

Hermione groaned internally. This girl was crazy. Cute and cuddly, but crazy. “They won’t trouble anyone.” _‘Mainly because they are not real.’_

Luna’s frown deepened, just as tears started gathering in her eyes. She liked Hermione. She did not want, her to get a detention or points taken. “Wrackspurts don’t want to trouble Nargles.” The tears finally started leaking. She let her forehead rest against the taller girl’s shoulder, shaking. “Please. The Nargle is nice to the Wrackspurt. Wrackspurt don’t want to trouble Nargle.”

The brunette scowled, finally understanding the lithe girl, yet it took her some minutes to finally stop walking, hugging her a little closer to her. “You think you’d get me in trouble?”

Luna nodded. “Wrackspurts can’t be in Nargles nests!” She whimpered.

Hermione stared down, mentally prompting the blonde to look up. Once she did, she smiled sadly. “This Wrackspurt won’t trouble any Nargle, Luna.” The older girl said softly, shocking Luna at the use of her first name. She was not aware the brunette knew it. Hermione slowly put the girl on her feet again, gently whipping the tears from her cheeks and delivering a quick kiss to her forehead. “We are not going to Gryffindor’s Common Room.”

Luna’s skin heated where the soft lips pressed, wondering what did she do to deserve this angel from heaven.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is already written, it's 53 chapters long but as I'm lazy as a slob to post each individual chapter, I'm condensing them in blocks of 5 or 6, depending how many characters the site allows me.
> 
> I owe nothing :D

# Chapter Three - Chocolate

Luna looked around at where they were. There was a huge portrait just beside them. Hermione held her hand gently and turned to look at it. They were aware of a faint shrill, it sounded as someone was trying to sing an aria and doing a poor job of it, but the blonde did not paid any mind to it, still shaken up at the care the older girl was giving her.

The human in the portrait was eyeing them. It was a nice man, not handsome or really cute, just nice. He was well built and his eyes shone with mischief. His hair was black as coal and he was sporting a small goatee. His wide hat matched perfectly with his red vest and he was holding a thin epée, which was currently directed at them. “It is quiet late, Lady Granger. Perhaps I shant let you pass?”

Hermione scoffed. “Please, Baron. We have met later than this.”

The fit man laughed. “Yes, we have, M’Lady. However, this is the first time you’ve bring company here.” He eyed them with suspicious. “Shall I ring the alarm? Or shall you do something to avoid that.”

Luna blinked, faintly aware of the last tears that fell thanks to that action. And they called _her_ strange! She could not hold a candle against this really weird man!

“Fine!” Hermione sighed, perfectly aware of what the man wanted. “Oh, grand Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds, the greatest man to ever walk on Earth! The most handsome, fit, and lovable portrait Hogwarts have ever had! The bravest Musketeer! The finer dancer! The most exquisite guest to ever grace the French Palaces! Porthos, the best lover a woman, or man, could hope to have! The most-”

The brunette was swiftly interrupted by a deep laugh that only made her growl. The man kept laughing at the reddening girl, while trying to speak. “Oh, Merlin!” He howled. “You get better each time!”

“Are you letting us in?” Hermione all but spat, truly annoyed. She immediately felt guilty, though, when the little blonde flinched, making her pale more than her already white complexion.

The man took a deep breath, trying to contain his mirth. “Secret Word?”

“Lantern Waste.”

“You shall pass, M’Ladies.” The portrait swung open.

“Come on, before he closes again.” Hermione tugged on the girl’s hand and crossed the archway that has been revealed. Luna simply nodded, not truly sure if this was safe, but scared enough of the annoyed witch to not say anything.

The room before them was not something she had expected. It was dimly lit, and whereas she had thought they were going into the older witch’s House, even though she was told otherwise, this certainly could not be Gryffindor Common Room, especially if she were to compare it to her own Common Room. For starters, the room was too small. Ravenclaw’s was as wide as the Tower it sat at, with several tables and chairs that allowed the research focused pupils to work finely. This room only had a small table, comfortable for maybe three, with as many chairs.

The Ravenclaw was expecting many big, comfy armchairs and sofas, the same that populated her House, and, if her common sense was right, in red and golden, just as her House’s were blue and bronze, honoring their colors. Instead she was faced with a single deep purple loveseat and a lonely armchair just a tad lighter than the loveseat.

Ravenclaw’s Common Room had four wide, grand, doors, besides the entrance one. Two for the facilities, men and women, and two that lead to a long staircase where the shared bedrooms rested, for both male and females. This room had four doors too, but she highly doubted they lead to the same rooms as her House, as they were more narrow and simple looking.

Her House was decorated in its own standard colors. Everything, for the sofas, the carpet, to the beds and curtains were a mix of shades of blue and bronze. It only made sense that Gryffindor’s would be red and golden. But this room was simply not. There were accents of purple and lilac, in various shades and contrasts, but mostly it was a deep cherry that really made the room feel homey and cozy. The fireplace was big enough to lit and warm the place, but nothing near the gigantic ones they had at Ravenclaw which were wide enough to have a person lying on their floor; she should know as she had been in that spot several times.

Hermione led her to the sofa, and with a simple gesture of her wrists, the fire started. Luna had never sat in something more comfy. The cushions were soft and her body sunk just right in them, but her back was properly supported. With the fire on the room only felt more welcome to her. Absentminded, she felt how a throw blanket was firmly secured around her petit frame.

“Wait here.” The older witch left the blonde seated and disappeared through one of the doors, the closest to the entrance.

Luna was too comfortable to disobey, and too curious of where the rest of the Gryffindors were. It was Friday night and she knew, just as the rest of the school knew, that there were four parties going on. There was always a party on full blast at each House every Friday night. Especially just before a Quidditch match. It was just a tradition all the students like to follow, even the always centered Claws. On Quidditch’s Fridays the booze was always flowing like rivers. It made for a hung over team the next day, and the entertainment was to bet to the more wasted team to win, never mind House Points and the Quidditch Cup, the honor was to drink enough to knock out a horse and still be able to play well the following morning.

So, as she was wondering why there was not a party, she let her eyes catch every little detail the previous darkness had stopped her to see. Above the fireplace was a large ancient map, the chipped parchment made the swinging little ships look older and rustier, while some overly adorned monsters tried to catch them. Seeing mermaids and krakens chasing ships no bigger than her thumb would made her smile any other day, but tonight, the gentle peace in were they flow just made relax further.

She readjusted slightly, taking her shoes off and tucking her legs under her, not really minding she was a guest and that she was not entirely sure where she was. From her new position she could easily spot the little table, that in the light she could see was littered with several papers and the odd book laying in it. One of the chairs was turned and she could see that a full school bag had been tossed there carelessly. Under the table was a pair of shoes, and what looked like a lost sweater.

The walls were not really walls, amazingly enough. All the space that was not used as a door, or the fireplace, was covered in books. Bookcases that reached almost the ceiling were filled to the brim in books form all sizes and shapes. A quick glance allowed her to see the school texts she knew, along with some reference books she had used before. Most of the books were the dull colors all magical ones were, but a bookcase, the one almost in front of her, was mostly covered in colorful books, some thin, some thick, but clearly different at what she was used to.

Luna smiled. This place was so unique that it was _certainly_ not a Common Room. Or so she hoped, because if it was, then they were in deep trouble.

“Sorry I took so long.” Hermione suddenly appeared before her, carrying a tray with a full tea service set. “I almost thought I was out of chocolate.”

The blonde perked at that word. Everybody loved chocolate. She looked almost impatiently how the armchair was transformed silently into a low table and moved between the fire heart and the blonde. The brunette set the tray on it and started pouring the hot beverage. Passing the only half-full cup to Luna she warned softly. “It’s quiet hot, drink it slowly.”

The younger witch nodded and sipped carefully. It was sweet, but not as sweet as the chocolate she was used to drink. It was also not as creamy as she was used to too, but it was pleasantly helping with the dry mouth she had not noticed she had. Much to her regret, the savor only lasted a second. She frowned slightly, it was indeed hot, and she had just effectively burned her tongue. She stuck it out, trying to see where she was hurt.

The brunette looked at the girl sitting almost thigh to thigh with her while sipping her own cup. The blonde was cuter up close than she remembered and she could not help but chuckle when the girl crossed her eyes trying to see her poking pink tongue. The sound made Luna look at her, her ever so little red eyes widening and her little tongue quickly retreating. Apparently the girl was big on tears this night, because her eyes started gathering water and her pitiful whimper tore at the older student’s heart as she realize why she was trying to see her tasting muscle.

“Oh, Luna.” She sighed, not entirely sure where she had skipped formalities and started calling her by her first name. Setting her cup down, she reached for the younger girl’s and did the same to hers. Once both her hands were free she took the blonde’s chin gently and forced her to face her. “Let me see it.”

It was a soft order and Luna did not doubt in opening her mouth and let the older girl see the damage the hot chocolate had done. It only took a couple of seconds before she felt something like a small breeze and a cooling sensation that spread around her entire mouth. The pain disappeared instantly.

“There. That shall do it.” Hermione murmured, yet her hand did not release her. “Feel better?”

“Hmmm.” Luna hummed contently, feeling her healed mouth. “Thank you.”

The brunette smiled gently, wondering what she was doing with a virtual stranger and acting so comfortable with her. She hated the haunted eyes that stare back at her, and she dreaded to think exactly why the young Claw was out of bed. Yet she smiled. It was now nearing one o’clock and Luna had finally spoken something understandable to her, at least other than pleads of despair. “You are very welcome.” Hermione took Luna’s cup again and cooled it with a gently wave of her hand, instantly missing the feel of Luna’s soft skin on her fingers. She gave her the now warm chocolate. “Here, it’s only barely hot now, you should be able to drink it.”

Luna beamed at that. She quickly took the tasty sweet and started sipping contently. “Nargles are nice and their touch is soft!”

Hermione blushed. She now understood that she had been labeled a Nargle, whatever that meant, and she was ashamed to admit that Luna’s innocent comment was the nicest thing she had been told in a while. “And Wrackspurts are cute and cuddly.” She teased back.

That made the little girl blush as well, effectively making her forget why she was sitting with a witch three years her senior in a room she still did not know what propose had.

XxXxX

Sirius sighed. It was almost Christmas and he was yet to be free to do as he pleased. Sure, he was no longer a fugitive, nor a convict, but he had gained his old Auror job after Voldemort’s defeat and he was busy as ever.

The bloody snake face had only summoned a handful of his followers when he had decided to attack Hogwarts at the end of last term, so there were still a huge bunch of Death Eaters roaming around free. It had been labeled as his job to hunt for them then.

He was almost to the end of the long list Wormtail had given them when he was captured, in exchange of his pathetic life, but he had vowed not to stop up until all the pureblood fanatics were put in Azkaban. It was just bad that he had to spend the holidays away from Harry, who was now under his legal guardianship, but the boy understood and was more than happy to be at Hogwarts for the mini vacation.

“Uncle?” A soft voice called to him and pulled him from his thoughts. He turned to see a lean pink haired girl looking at him expectantly. “Are you ready to go?”

Sirius sighed again, he was so tired. Groaning from effort the man got up from his place in front the fireplace at the Auror’s Headquarters. “Yeah, Tonks, let’s go find McNair.”

 

# Chapter Four – No-Man’s-Land

The air was toasty and warm enough for her to feel comfortable in her see-through camisole, yet she could not help but burrow into the soft and silky sheets. She sighed. This was the most comfortable she had been in a really long time. She scooted closer to the place her source of warmth was, only to find it gone. She frowned. That would not do.

Luna opened her eyes tiredly and blinked. The room she was in was not her room. Not at all. There were no blue canopies, nor a bronze comforter that covered her pale blue cotton sheets. No. The bed she was resting on had no tall post nor curtains. It was bigger than her twin sized one, and both the sheets and comforter were a soft lilac with deep purple little flowers.

The little Claw blinked again. There were no other beds in the somewhat big room, just a big wardrobe, a full size mirror and a beautiful dressing table, filled with bottles of all colors and shapes. The air smelt of roosted apples and cinnamon, something that immediately made her think of her mother, as it had been the smell that had always lingered in their house on chilly days. In the little fireplace, smaller than any other she could remember, hot ambers were still giving the room the needed heat to bear the December’s cold days.

Frowning she looked at the empty space on the bed. Something warm had been resting there not so long ago, something warm enough that had kept her happily safe in Morpheus’ Land. Slowly she got up, careful of stepping out of bed with her right foot, a foot that was instantly chilled in the carpeted, yet cold, floor. Once the covers were totally off her the rest of her body chilled as well. Looking around she spotted a thick nightgown and a pair of slippers in a matching mauve tone, and, without thinking, she instantly put them on.

She was not sure where she was, or why she was there, but there was only one door and that surely was the only way out. With a small knot in her stomach, out of hunger or apprehension she did not know, she took the handle and stepped outside.

XxXxX

“I don’t understand. It’s unfair.”

The older woman sighed. “Miss Lovegood is a special case, Hermione. Not many really like her.”

Hermione frowned. That was certainly true, she was not aware of any student that actively sought Luna, or that really talked to her, only about her. The Professors were of similar matter, only Professor McGonagall, who she was currently entertaining in her small living room, was nice to the girl. But there was just so much the Headmistress could do to help her.

“I know that.” The brunette huffed and crossed her arms, yet she did not search the older woman’s eyes. She knew the feeling that would cause her. “What I don’t understand is the why.” She was mad at the people in the school, of their pettiness and their lack of common sense.  

The Headmistress smiled softly at who she considered her favorite student, marveling at how the stoic girl was being so moved by a tiny Claw. Hearing that the fifth year Prefect had actually gone to bed at around four in the morning _talking_ with someone was quite a shock. In the last year or so Hermione Granger was often by herself, only occasionally talking with her friends Mister Potter and Mister Weasley. The Triwizard Tournament had effectively distanced Gryffindor’s Golden Trio and Ron and Harry had taken great offense in Hermione when she refused to celebrate with them the _joy_ of being chosen to compete. Never mind that Harry Potter was underage, or that his magic ability was not at par with the rest to the Champions, or that he was simply so unfocused his life was in danger even without trying. No. They were upset because she was worried for her friend and that made her an enemy for the two proud Gryffindors.

“Me neither.” Confessed the older witch. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I’ll make things worse if I intercede for her.”

“Why?” Hermione blushed as she heard herself. She had not just whined… she had simply asked an intelligent question in a high pitched voice.

“The same reason I didn’t send you home.” She answered calmly.

Minerva McGonagall could still remember the little first year girl that had come to see her no long before her first Halloween Feast, asking to be sent home. Young Hermione was tired of always learning her magic and being teased because of it. She was hurt, out of her element, far away from home and in a place she was mostly hated. It had taken her then Head of House hours to calm her and made her understand that things would be better, that she would be making friends soon enough and that she needed to learn and grow in the world she was now part of.

It was hard, true, but Hogwarts was not only a place to learn magic, but a place where the children learnt the necessary skills to survive in the adult world. No child in the school left without learning something, be it academically or socially, and that was the reason why House Unity was so enforced. There were always pariahs, but in McGonagall’s experience, those pariahs were always the best Wizards and Witches that ever graced Earth.

Hermione had understood her Professor’s reasoning and had tried to be the better person. It had worked well up until the day Harry became Hogwarts’ Champion. After that she had simply realized that she truly did not need to be accepted by her peers. They were no longer mean and they finally understood she was the most brilliant witch in the _century_ , so she was let alone and she was fine with it.

“Still,” The young brunette said. “There is got to be something we could do. Something _I_ could do.”

McGonagall nodded. She was about to speak when the door that led to the bedroom opened slowly. Both women turned and see a little blonde head peeking out, nervous blue eyes searching for some form of comfort and recognition.

“Good afternoon, Miss Lovegood.” The Headmistress spoke softly, trying not to scare the skittish Ravenclaw.

Luna’s already pale complexion whitened more. In a flash what had happened to her the previous night came rushing to the front of her mind. How she had been found by her Head of House, how Hermione had given her her cloak, how she had burnt her tongue with hot chocolate, how she had fallen asleep resting her head onto the brunette’s comfy shoulder.

Sheer will force stopped her from bursting into tears at seeing their Headmistress sitting in the armchair that had been such a lovely low table the night before. She liked Hermione, and now here she was, the highest authority in school, ready to deliver punishment. It didn’t crossed her mind that said authority was nursing a hot cup of tea, siting in robes way too casual for her, nor that the Gryffindor Prefect was still in her pajamas, her hair tussled and with a half-eaten sandwich in her hand.

Luna’s head bowed. “Sorry.”

Hermione flinched. There it was that voice again, the same one that had broken her heart when she hear it in the South Hallway the night before. It bothered her that she still did not know why the Claw has been out of bed so late at night. No matter how much she pushed, the girl simply would not say. Still, that voice, that scarred sound, made her heart bleed and she vowed silently to do everything in her power to ensure Luna would never, ever, sound like that again.

“What are you sorry for, child?” Minerva asked truly confused. She had only greeted her!

Luna looked panicked to Hermione, then back to the oldest witch. Surely it was now too late to try and spare Hermione of any punishment, but perhaps she could convince the Headmistress that she could do both of their detentions. Maybe she would be stuck with Hagrid, he was a nice man, soft and funny. Yes, maybe she would be lucky enough to serve detention with him.

The Gryffindor looked at Luna and it took her a second to understand why she was apologizing. Before Luna could answer McGonagall, she did. “Luna here thinks that we’ll be in trouble because she’s a Claw and I’m a Cub, and going to each other Houses is against the rules.”

Minerva frowned. The blonde girl was intelligent, not many know of that particular rule, not even most of the Prefects did. It was not a rule that was frequently broken, though, House rivalry helped to enforce it, and inter-House dating was rare, and the actual couples from different Houses preferred developing their relationships out of them. So there was not real need to know a rule that was not easily enforced. “And surely you’ve told Miss Lovegood that your chambers are basically No-Man’s-Land?”

Hermione blushed. She knew she had missed something last night. She had been so occupied comforting the blonde and distracting her that she had forgotten to explain her current living arrangements. “Er…”

The Headmistress simply shook her head, fully knowing her star pupil was prone to forget the smallest details. She was good at puzzles and riddles, but she was sometimes as dense as a first year Hufflepuff. She turned to the youngest girl. “Miss Lovegood,” she said softly, trying to convey a safe feeling to the girl. “This is no the Gryffindor House. You are not in trouble.” She motioned at the seat next to Hermione. “Please come sit with us.”

Luna eyed them, not entirely sure to know what to expect. Yet she was cold, even though there was a nice fire going and the nightgown was warm, so she simply followed the command and sat pressed to the older teen, trying to rob her of her body heat. She was promptly presented with a sandwich from a small bag that rested in Hermione’s lap. Her tummy rumbled and she blushed, silently accepting the more than wanted food.

“Sorry about that, I kinda forgot to tell you.” Hermione took a bite from her chicken salad sandwich as Luna sniffed at hers, looking at her curiously.

“All the houses allow their best students their own chambers as a reward for their efforts and great marks. They have to be the best for two years in a row to be considered for this privilege, though.” McGonagall supplied, seeing that the brunette had no intention of explaining the situation. “Hermione is the best student in her house. She had been for the last four years. As such, she was given the choice to have her own quarters in her third year, but only accepted last year.”

Hermione swallowed and shrugged. “I thought the full on House experience and shared dormitories would do me more good than my own rooms, where I surely would end occupying all the space with homework and clothes.” She did not mention that she also feared that having such a privilege would make the displeasure in her Housemates grow and alienate her further form them. She was now as alienated as she could possibly be, so it did not matter anymore. And not having to share sure made living in the castle for nine months more comfortable.

The Headmistress rolled her eyes, knowing full well the reason why the brunette had declined the first time. She turned to Luna. “As she doesn’t live in Gryffindor Rooms, you two are not violating any rule. So don’t worry.”

Luna nodded, relieved that she had not gotten the older girl in trouble. She was grateful for the comfort she had been given, and she knew it was not a nice way to pay to have the other girl punished. “Thank you.” She said softly, thought the other women were not sure if she was thankful of the knowledge or the food.

Minerva smiled. “You are very welcome.”

That stirred something in Luna and she decided that she was calm enough to try and eat. Gingerly she bit her sandwich, only to wince as pain sprout in her tongue. She took the food out, not having really tearing the piece from it, and pouted.

Hermione cursed silently. Putting her own sandwich down, she gently cupped Luna’s chin, just as she had done the night before. “Show me.” She requested softly.

The blonde didn’t hesitated and opened her mouth, she loved the way she was pampered by the woman she thought was truly the smarter witch of all times. She did not need to talk much for her to understand what was running through her head, and she understood when she actually talked. It did not take long before the same cooling effect she had previously experimented returned, chasing the pain away.

“Better?” The brunette asked her.

Luna nodded and leaned forward, gently resting her forehead just above the older girl’s breast. She was both silently thanking her and asking her for a little more pampering, not caring on the interested stare they were receiving from their Headmistress.

 

# Chapter Five - Sniffles

Minerva watched as Hermione gently prided Luna’s moth open and a few seconds later blew softly into it, making the slight face of pain in the younger girl go away. She smiled. That particular trick had been learned from the Headmistress’ personal library, and after the first time Hermione had managed to do it, it had been one of her most used little quirks that made the older woman smile.

Not many had the ability to use that kind of powers, but the brunette could and she had spent several weeks learning to control the power she had had since birth. It had taken Minerva hours of studying to help the witch, as the Headmistress herself was not able to perform that magic, but the girl had gotten brilliant at using her gift.

The old woman saw interested as her young brunette smiled softly and run her unused hand thought almost tangle-free flaxen hair. She had never seen the Gryffindor so at ease with another human being. The oldest witch was her friend, she had been since that moment she had wanted out from the wizarding world in the girl’s first year, and she was sure she had never seen Hermione so comfortable with, well, anybody.

The Transfiguration Mistress knew the brunette quite well, she knew of her quirks and her desires. She understood her need to learn anything and everything and why her classmates could easily annoy her. She could understand the reasons why the younger witch was prone to lose her patience, but also the reasons why she desired to fit in. Being normal and accepted was the now called Morgen most desired wish. But she was too different to do so.

Hermione was a strange creature, she did not trust easily and she was always plotting something. She had the habit of thinking before acting, something totally opposite to what her House professed, even though she sometimes decided to act against her best judgment. She stopped and thought of what was going to exit her lips, not wanting her words to be twisted into something offensive or creating misunderstandings. She was totally different of what the average wizard, or witch, was, and that made the rest of Hogwarts’ students uncomfortable.

But she was sweet little thing once one got to know her. She was considerate and always putting her friends before herself, something Mister Weasley had abused up until their fourth year. She wanted everyone to succeed in her dreams, hoping that that could make her own dreams come true, but it was simply not meant to happen.

Still, Minerva was proud to be considered her friend. The young Prefect had permission to call the Headmistress by her given name when they were in private, and she had spent last summer at her Manor learning magic she could not have come across otherwise. Hermione had blossomed in the months after Voldemort’s defeat, her already strong magic had leaped when she had helped kill the bastard. While fourth year Hermione could easily do wandless magic, her power had been too raw to actually control it, and more often than not trying to cast silent spells with her bare hands had ended with her in a hospital bed and with a slight concussion.

Everything changed when she had casted an unknown curse to Voldemort roughly six months back, permitting Harry Potter to finish the Dark Lord. The joyous day had been celebrated for a month afterwards, all the wizarding world had been in high spirits since then, but she did not celebrate with them. Something had changed the young brunette, but at least not as it had changed Mister Potter and Mister Weasley, the former who had grown to be a respectable an humble young man and the latter who was now an airheaded boy with a grandeur complex. She was still as mature as she had been, and as lonely as she had been, but she had taken it a step further, retreating from the world she once knew, the Muggle world.

The Headmistress heart swelled at knowing that Hermione Granger preferred her company at those of her parents. She did not know the reason why her young friend had asked to stay the summer after Voldemort’s death with her, but she knew that her parents’ lose was certainly her gain. She had tried to ask, of course, but the girl would not answer her questioning.

“Come on, Luna, eat something.” Hermione’s soft prodding took the old witch from her thoughts. She looked as the younger girl gingerly took a bite of her food, but did not part far from what she now considered her personal furnace. The brunette simply smiled, eating her own food and hugging the shorter girl by the shoulders with her free arm.

The trio fell in a comfortable silence, all the while Minerva looked at the two girls before her. She knew she had not helped the young Claw because she was hoping the girl could do as Hermione and learn to adapt in her new home and environment. And she was ashamed to admit that she had somehow forgotten about her ever since she was forced in Albus’ position just after the Goblet of Fire had selected the four Champions.

The Ministry, along with Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff, had demanded that the ‘responsible’ of having two Hogwarts champions was punished. Albus had been the one to be blamed, so he had to resign and the school administration had fallen onto her shoulders. With all the added work, and the pressure to have her two students survive the Tournament, Luna Lovegood had effectively been delegated to the very back of her mind.

“Miss Lovegood.” She said softly when it was evident the girl had finished eating, even though there was still little more than half sandwich in her hand. “Hermione had told me what happened last night.” Said witch winced at how Luna stiffened. “Could you tell me what you were doing out that late?” She did not mention how she was dressed, or how she had been confronted by Filius, she just needed to know what happened to the little blonde.

Luna swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She was happy for once, her side was pressed firmly into a constant source of heat, and the arm around her shoulders fell divine, but she knew that all good things come to an end. Yet, she remembered that she was not allowed to say why she had been kicked out of Ravenclaw, even if it was the Headmistress was the one asking.

“Luna,” Hermione murmured softly. “Please answer her.”

The blonde shook her head. She had no intention of telling them how she was teased and bullied in what was supposed to be her safe haven in school.

“Please, Luna.” McGonagall decided it was no harm referring her as she did Hermione. “Tell us what happened. Did someone hurt you?”

The Claw blinked at being call like that from a woman that the rumors made a complete hag. Minerva McGonagall was a stern woman who did not like it when people broke the rules, and she was more than happy to ensure that the school was well monitored and all transgressions punished. All the talk she had heard about their Headmistress referred to her as someone to avoid and try to please when avoiding her was impossible. Never had it occurred to Luna that maybe they were all lies, because the woman who was calling her by her given name was warm and kind.

She shook her head with more vigor as tears started falling. McGonagall could be God himself and she would not been rattling her Housemates. They were scary and she knew firsthand that they were nasty and liked to find excuses to hurt her. She liked Minerva, but she feared the Ravenclaws more.

“Ma-Min,” Hermione started, not caring that the blonde found out her familiarity with the older witch odd, or improper… or the almost slip she had made. “Maybe we should forget about it?” She hated to ask that, but she could understand how hard was to tell people when one was miserable. It took the brunette little more than year to completely open up to the oldest witch, and she was still hiding secrets for her. She knew it would take more time than that to open Luna up, at least half way.

The Headmistress sighed, knowing her young friend was right. “Fine.” She conceded, but decided Filius was in for a visit soon. “There had been a heavy snowfall yesterday night and early this morning.” She commented as if she had just arrived and was informing a class of some important fact. “We are asking the students to stay indoors until it’s time to take the Express back to London tomorrow afternoon. Also, something happened to the warming charms that protected the school from the cold, we suspect it was so windy that the charmed stones fell out of place. Please see that you two are warm until we fix that problem and don’t go wandering around the castle, is freezing out there.”

Hermione smiled her gratitude at the older witch, only slightly dampened by the guilt she always felt around the older witch. “I’ll take care of that.” She turned to Luna, whose tears were still running, but shown no signs of distress. “Would you like to spend the day with me? We can do our homework and chat.” She smirked and tapped the other girl’s nose. “I can even make you some more hot chocolate.”

Luna smiled shyly and nodded. The brunette did not have to offer her chocolate to convince her to join her. She would spend time with her in a heartbeat any day, or night. The promise of hot deliciousness was just a bonus.

Minerva mentally snorted amused at the duo. Only a hurt blonde girl could made Hermione act playful and closer to her age. She was glad Luna could befriend her, as both dearly needed a friend, she just hoped it would have been under better circumstances. “Well, ladies.” She said after she vanished her finished cup and getting up from the most comfortable armchair she had ever come across. “I shall be going, as I need to do some paper work before tonight.”

Hermione nodded. “We’ll see you at lunch.”

The Headmistress laughed, shocking little Luna. “My dear Hermione, lunch was over about two hours ago.”

The brunette blinked owlish at that, before blushing. At her side the blonde giggled. “I guess we slept longer than I realized.” She sighed. “That’s explain the sandwiches. Thank you for getting us food, though.” She motioned at the paper bag still in her lap.

The oldest witch nodded in acknowledgement. “Lunch was a cold affair, I’m afraid. The Great Hall resembled the North Pole and many left sniffing and coughing after eating. As such, dinner will be served in the Common Rooms, I’ll make sure a house elf bring you both some.” She frowned. “That reminds me. Sniffles?”

Luna was confused for a whole second before a quiet pop told her what had happened. A small house elf stood before them, wearing a small red sweater and long socks. It appeared that even the little creatures were being affected by the cold. “You called, Mistress?”

“Yes, little one. Could you please bring some warm clothes for Luna here? And some spare blankets?” Hermione smiled a little at the thoughtfulness of the oldest witch. She still hated how wizards treated their house elves, but she had come to know Sniffles and she had understood that not all masters were bad, just that they were not a majority. Sniffles was Minerva’s personal elf and she was a darling little thing, always eager to sneak Hermione forbidden sweets and books from the Restricted Section.

“Yes, Mistress.” The elf popped out the room and a couple of seconds later was back with an armful of clothes, from dresses to sweaters and the blankets requested. She put them in the recently unoccupied armchair. “Sniffles is needed more? A book? A sweet?” She asked the room, knowing her brunette mistress sometimes liked to ask for things herself when she was around.

Hermione paled when Minerva eyed her suspiciously, fully aware what kind of books Sniffles gave her. “Er,” She coughed, softly. “Could you also please bring Luna’s school things?”

“Yes, Miss Neenie.” Sniffles bowed and the things asked where placed in the table with a quick snap of her fingers.

“Thank you, Sniffles, you rock!” The elf blushed at her young mistress gratitude, still not used to be treated with respect from other than her main Mistress. With a pop she vanished, leaving the other three to smile to where the embarrassed little thing had been.

“I shall be gone, then.” Minerva said, turning to where the exit was, only to be stopped by a tiny voice.

“Thank you, Headmistress.”

It was soft, and sounded scratchy, as if it was not used often. The oldest witch smiled to Luna with her back still to her. “Please call me Minerva.” She asked equally softly. She opened the portrait and looked back once just before disappearing. “And you are very welcome, dear.”

 

# Chapter Six – Staff’s Meeting

Hermione looked at the girl that was impersonating a small fish, with her mouth opening and closing, truly perplexed at what their Headmistress had called her. The brunette smiled, knowing firsthand how scary was to discover the woman beneath the stern Professor.

“You okay, Luna?” She snickered.

The blonde blinked owlish, not sure if what she had just seen was true. Had her Headmistress just called her dear? “Yes.” She mumbled. “Are the Kneazle always so nice?” She asked a little louder.

It was Hermione’s turn to blink. She had understood she was a Nargle, Luna was a Wrackspurt, so that made Minerva a Kneazle? “Yes, she is. She likes me to visit her after breakfast on Saturdays.”

The blonde frowned, the half-eaten sandwich fell onto her lap. She had not wanted to intrude in what looked as a tradition between the two older witches. She had not meant to sleep so late into the evening preventing the Headmistress and Hermione to have their weekly meeting. “Luna is sorry.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, for both the meaning and the way she phrased that statement. “What for?”

“Nargles and Kneazles like to play. Wrackspurts shan’t interfere.”

The older girl simply smiled sadly. She took the sandwich from it place in the blonde’s lap and vanished it, along with all the crumbles it had made. “Minerva won’t ever be offended if I can’t follow our usual schedule. Especially if there’s something important I have to do.”

Luna nodded, not really understanding what Hermione was saying, but knowing that the girl was trying to make her feel better.

The brunette knew the younger girl was not convinced. “She knows that you needed me.” She refused to talk like Luna, fully aware that the girl _did_ understand her. “She knows what happened last night and was angry at how Professor Flitwick acted. She knew we hadn’t eaten since yesterday, because she didn’t saw us at breakfast _and_ lunch. She was happy to bring us the sandwiches and to chat even when it was not at the usual time.”

“Kneazles are nice to Wrackspurts.” She eyed the older girl, wondering for a second how the Headmistress could have known of things that had happened just a night ago, before simply accepting that being Headmistress had its own especial powers. “As are Nargles.”

Hermione chuckled. “Yes we are.” Standing up, she stretched and groaned in satisfaction when her back popped. “I hope you don’t mind if we do a little homework before dinner. I only have two essays left, and if you wish I can help with anything you’d like.”

Luna titled her head to the right, her eyes never leaving the way Hermione chest pulled when stretched, nor the small bounce they did when they were back into place. Homework? She had heard that word plenty of times before, but she was not sure exactly what it meant.

XxXxX

“Thank you all for coming in such a short notice.” The old witch entered her office were all the Professors she had asked were gathered around a small table.

“Yes well, it’s not like we had the option not to come.” Severus Snape drawled, truly annoyed at the interruption of one of his student-free days. Weekend days were sacred among the Staff, especially the ones were they were not on duty, such as this fine Saturday in which the Head of Slytherin was not forced to look after stupid dunderheads.

Minerva sat at the end of the table, not taking the bait she was offered. It would be in everybody’s interests that she ignored the dumb Potion Master.

“Why have you call us, Headmistress?” Pomona Sprout asked, it was not common of Minerva to ask for most of the staff to gather, she usually spoke to each of them personally, or in smaller groups.

“Luna Lovegood.” The stern witch answered simply, only to frown slightly when most of the gathered stifled laughs.

“Oh, Headmistress,” Professor Aurora Sinistra was the first to actually laugh. “She doesn’t merit such a formal meeting.”

Snape scoffed. “As much as agreeing with Miss Sinistra pains me, she is quite right. The girl is a lost cause and should be expelled at once.”

“Now, now, Severus,” Professor Lupin objected carefully. “She may not be the most meticulous student we’ve ever had, but she is a good kid.”

The Potion teacher growled. “Meticulous, you say? The girl never turns in homework, she doesn’t answer questions, not by her own will nor when asked directly. Her exams are written in the worst handwriting I’ve ever seen and she’s always daydreaming in class. She is a far cry from a _reckless_ student. I believe there is no word to describe her degree of incompetence.”

The Headmistress was shocked at that, though the only external sign of that was her rapid blinking. _‘How could this girl pass her classes if she never does her homework?!’_

Professor Flitwick nodded. “She is indeed a poor excuse of a Ravenclaw. She never does as told and she’s more often than not distracting her peers with her strange behavior.”

“That may be true,” Remus scowled his colleague, wondering why the tiny man was not defending the girl. “But she had the best exam in her class last year.”

Pomona nodded, not really interested. “Same in my class, she was the best in the final exam, though the worst in every class.”

Snape sneered. “Her score in mine was almost perfect, but that doesn’t make her a good student, and I’m sure most of us would like her gone. She’s only wasting space and resources.”

Minerva quirked an eyebrow at that information. She turned to rest of the assembled. “What about your exams, was she good?”

“She had a score of 112 in mine.” Filius confessed.

“I have never seen better charted stars.” Aurora conceded.

“She was the only one able to transform hale into thread.” Professor Tamsin Greenwood, the new Transfiguration teacher, said easily, not seeing anything wrong if the girl lacked in what was considered normal student’s habits. The girl was bright and she showed them that with her magic and her not so shared knowledge. Still, she was the newest employee in the castle and she knew her input could be ill accepted.

Minerva nodded, kind of happy with that answers. Binns was not present, but that teacher opinion was not really needed, as the old ghost surely was not aware he was teaching a girl called Luna Lovegood, yet she was more than confident that the girl’s results on that subject where also favorable. It did explain how the girl have passed her classes, though. Homework was only worth a forty percent of the final grade, so with a forty-sixty kind of evaluation the girl only needed to excel in her exams in order to pass the class.

“Still,” Snape snapped. “The girl is destined to failure.”

McGonagall smirked. “Do you know who her mother was, Severus?”

The Potion Master chuckled humorlessly. “I’m sure the stupid witch was as stupid as her dumb daughter.”

The Headmistress’ fists clenched, having to restrain herself not to slap the bastard silly. No wonder all the students demanded of a new Potion Teacher, and she agreed… she was just still looking for a fit replacement. Snape was, after all, the best Potion Master in all England. “Miss Lovegood’s mother was Selene Lovegood, though many knew her by her maiden, and public, name: Nightingale.”

Severus Snape paled. He knew that name perfectly. Selene Nightingale was the woman he apprenticed under, she was the one that had taught him in the arts of Potion Making, the witch that had made him understand that potions were almost lining things, meant to be cared and cherished. She was the one that had held the position of the best Potion Master before him, the title had been passed down and he was given it. The day she died.

The man had mourned her for a month, as the wizarding community had lost a great Master and him a friend.

The Slytherin swallowed, not really sure when his trough dried and looked at the headmistress. “You are joking, Selene had no kids.” There was no way that such a strange girl had been born from such a magnificent brewer; besides, the older witch would surely inform him if she had a baby.

“I kid you not, Severus. Luna was born shortly after you gained your Mastership.” There was just a hint of pleasure in having the man so perplexed. “Luna’s mother was your teacher, one of the reasons I’m sure she excels at your class when many others fail miserably.”

The nasty man simply frowned, not entirely happy at the jab his teaching methods were given, but before he could defend himself, he was interrupted by Professor Greenwood.

“She is rather smart,” She said softly, knowing full well her opinion could not be welcomed. “She understands everything at the first try and is able to do more than the rest of her class.” A pause. “I believe her only problem is that she doesn’t know how to be a normal student.”

The Ravenclaw Head of House frowned. “She is a strange girl, she doesn’t follow the rules and is always lost to the world, no matter how good her magic is, sh-” He was swiftly interrupted by his boss.

“Are you lot telling me that her only problem is that she doesn’t know how to be a student?” She asked her substitute, echoing the tiny man’s frown. She had thought the girl was actively trying to upset the teachers, she had not considered that maybe there was a real problem with the girl.

“Yes, Headmistress.” The rather young woman answered truthfully. “She doesn’t take notes, and I highly suspect that the girl never really learnt the concept of what is homework. If she is presented with written work in class she is easily distracted, and her penmanship is awful, but if she is tested she aces every question.”

Pomona chuckled. “She is not fit for school. The girl talks rubbish, if she is asked a question and she actually answer, she only talks about strange creatures I highly suspects she invents.”

The newest teacher frowned. “And I highly suspect that is the result of all teasing she is subject to.”

“She is molested constantly.” Remus added. How he wished the girl had not been sorted in Ravenclaw, that way he could have look after her, but then again, he was Gryffindor’s Head of House, he could not meddle with students from other houses.

Filius rose an eyebrow. “The girl should be sent home. She is teased because she is really too wild to be here.”

Minerva scowled. She could easily see how the teachers were divided, those that did not care for the girl, and those that actually wanted to help but found themselves with their hands tied. Tamsin was too new to actually have a say in the matter, and Remus had been back only a term and did not know exactly how to proceed with a girl he was not familiar with. She turn to the rest of the staff, the ones that she could see were very biased. “Luna Lovegood is not leaving school. I’ll make sure the girl has help and learns what is expected from her.”

“Good luck with that.” Snape sneered, he had not taken well the news about the mother’s girl. He stood up and marched to the exit. “I have better things to do than to discuss a lost cause. I shall be in my rooms the rest of the holiday. Good day.”

The Headmistress simply shook her head. “Pomona, Sinistra, you may go, too.” She said resigned, knowing full well that once the Potion Master leaves a reunion is was time to finish it as the rest of the teachers would want to follow soon.

The two witches promptly followed her instructions, leaving behind the other three teachers.

“Filius,” The older woman started. “I wish to remove Miss Lovegood from the Ravenclaw’s dormitories.” She told him without preamble, wanting to finish this as soon as possible. Fortunately she had completed her paperwork for the month and the preparations for the very few students that were staying on Christmas. Which, in fact, were only Harry and Hermione. Apparently the fall of the Dark Lord had prompted the families to celebrate this year together.

“I don’t see why, Minerva.” The little man said utterly perplexed, especially if the Headmistress insisted in leaving the girl at school.

“I don’t like that Miss Lovegood was out of her dormitory so late at night and with clothes that barely covered her. I’ve looked over her file and she’s been losing points for wandering around late at night almost once a week since she started Hogwarts.” She frowned, somehow relieved that the magical records every kid had updated every time they were punished or rewarded immediately. “Don’t you think there’s something suspicious there? I went to Ravenclaw Tower, the doorknob was tampered to stop Miss Lovegood to enter. It said so itself.”

The tiny man shrugged, while the other two teachers stiffened. They were the ones that had left Hogwarts not so long ago, they could remember the relatively new pranks made to students were they were banned to enter their Common Rooms… it had taken the students several generations to actually be able to prohibit the entrance to some or other student, and it was mostly the hated one that was banned from the house time to time.

Remus had been banned once, and it was something he remembered like an adventure, but he certainly did not think that it was a good experience, especially if the person was banned as often as Miss Lovegood seemed to be.

“I guess the girl did something for the entrance to shut. She may be not able to answer the riddles.” The Ravenclaw simply said.

Minerva saw red. Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent and smart, not this poor excuse of a wizard. But, she had been around long enough to know how to treat stupid men. “Regardless, Filius, I want her out. She doesn’t belong in your House.”

The short man nodded. That was true enough. “I think you are right, she is not Claw material. Please take her were you think she belongs.”

The angry Headmistress nodded. “Thank you, Filius; that would be all.” She dismissed the man, truly disgusted at how he was so set that the girl was not a Ravenclaw and that he was not going to do anything to help her.

“Good day, Minerva.” The man left, with a spring in his step. Who would have guessed that his Christmas gift was to be delivered that early? He had practically gotten rid of Miss Lovegood and her well-being was no longer his concern.

“What?” The shocked Transfiguration teacher muttered. She had by any means as much responsibilities as the rest of the staff, and she did not know exactly what everybody did, but she was fairly certain that a Head of House was in charge of their students’ happiness and safety.

Minerva looked at the young teacher. Tamsin Greenwood had apprenticed under her own teacher, Fizpatrick Callaghan and she was a fine witch with a talent for Transfigurations. She had gained her Mastery only six years after leaving Hogwarts, which made her twenty-eight, and truly the youngest person in staff. “Miss Greenwood.” She smiled when the witch flinched, apparently she still remembered when she was a student at the school.

“Yes, Headmistress?”

“I’d like to enlist you, and you too Remus, to help me help Miss Lovegood.”

# Chapter Seven - Mourn

“ _-‘Hush!’ said the Cabby._ ”

The old witch smiled at the sight that welcomed her.

_“They all listened. In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it. The horse seemed to like it too; he gave the sort of whinney a horse would give if, after years of being a cab-horse, it found itself back in the old field where it had played as a foal, and saw someone whom it remembered and loved coming across the field to bring it a lump of sugar._ ”

The youngest girl was curled into a tight ball on the sofa. Her blonde head rested softly on one of the brunette’s thighs, her locks sprawled all over her lap with her face turned towards the older girl’s stomach. Her chest rose and fell lightly.

“ _’Gawd!’ said the Cabby. ‘Ain't it lovely?’_ ”

The fifth-year witch’s free hand was combing through the flaxen head, gently untangling it. The other hand, the non-dominant one, was holding the small book from where she was reading out loud, making sure that it did not bothered the resting girl in her lap.

_“Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars. They didn't come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening. One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out—single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world. There were no clouds. The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time. If you had seen and heard it, as Digory did, you could have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which-_ ”

Hermione stopped reading when she finally sensed someone watching her. Lowering her book she peeked from above it, reddening when she saw a smiling Minerva watching them. “Er…”

“Good night, Neenie.” The older woman smile widened when the teen reddened to look as a tomato at the use of the most hated nickname.

“Don’t call me that!” The girl hissed. It had started with Sniffles calling her that, then Minerva had adopted it and used it as often as possible when they were alone. She feared what could happen if the name got to the rest of Hogwarts’ population.

The old Headmistress chuckled and swiftly sat at what she liked to call her armchair. “It suits you, Neenie.”

The teen simply growled. She knew by now that discussing with Minerva was a lost cause, so she simply changed the topic. “Have you eaten?” She asked. “We have some chicken and salad at the table, Sniffles brought us much more than we could eat.” She offered waving at the mentioned table.

“I have, thank you.” She nodded in gratitude, finally noticing that Luna had not moved as she was calmly napping. Shifting a little she could easily see how the youngest girl’s nose was pressed firmly onto Hermione’s tummy and how her right thumb was neatly placed in her mouth. The cheek she could see was stained with tear paths. “She looks comfy.” She commented with an eyebrow raised, wondering how they had ended so, well, comfortable.

The brunette smiled sadly, her hand never stopped caressing the soft hair. “We had sort of a problem before dinner and she got a little upset.” She eyed the older witch. “I was simply reading to her so she could fall asleep.”

“A problem?” Minerva asked just a tad alarmed.

Hermione gently levitated her book to the table, knowing full well that she was not going to keep reading anytime soon. She started explaining. “Shortly after you left I ask Luna for some time to do our homework. I was finishing one of my essays when I noticed that she wasn’t doing anything other than watching me, with something like an intrigued look on her face. I asked why she wasn’t doing her own homework and she stated she haven’t any… I, being me, didn’t believe her.” Minerva scoffed at that. Hermione could smell homework from a mile away.

“So I kinda forced her to show me her notes.” She continued. “She didn’t have any and that lead me to realize that little Luna here is behind in all her school work, both homework and classwork.” The brunette winced a little. “I got angry and I may have scolded her a little too harsh.”

She was not going to confess to her mentor how she had practically berated the girl to where the girl was crying and asking for forgiveness. It had taken the brightest witch in the century ten whole, tears filled, minutes to understand that Luna did not had a clue of why she was being chided. It had taken Hermione another ninety minutes to calm the girl down, ask for forgiveness and patiently explain why she had been so angry and what the word homework meant.

“Don’t you say.” Minerva deadpanned. And angry Hermione was something that could make even the Headmistress cry.

Hermione frowned. She still felt guilty of how she had exploded to the little thing sleeping in her lap, and it did nothing to ease her guilt when she realized that she had made the girl cry just a day before she was set to leave for the holidays. It also did nothing for the guilt she always felt when talking with Minerva. “I think she doesn’t know that we are supposed to turn in work after class, or that we are assigned essays often.”

The old witch sighed. “I know you are, indeed, right.”

And for the next hour the Headmistress told her young friend what had happened at the staff meeting and what she had learnt about the little blonde.

XxXxX

The voice that had lulled her to sleep was no longer going on and on about some boy and his magician uncle, and another, scratcher one, had joined it. The mix was not unpleasant and she decided to let Minerva and Neenie talk while she went back to sleep in a place where she was safe.

She had a full tummy and a nice place to rest, coupled with a pair of soothing voices, why should not she take the chance she had been given?

XxXxX

“Luna, honey, wake up.” The blonde girl frowned. She did not want to wake up! She was playing with the little Riogpakds, running around and chasing one another… the monkey like creatures were fun to be around!

“Luna, please, wake up.”

“No.” She mumbled around her thumb. She sighed contently and burrowed deeper onto the warm body that lay beneath her.

A soft groan. “Please Luna, I need to pee!”

The blonde whimpered, she knew that need to well, too well that it was not even funny. Without opening her eyes she simply let herself roll away from a top Hermione’s warm body, falling softly in the mattress below. She felt how the older girl practically sprang from the bed and dashed out the room, sounding as an avalanche was taking place.

Luna half opened one eye, debating with herself if she needed to wake up or nor. It was still dark and the room was chilled. From her spot on the bed she could see the dorm’s window and the moon that hung clearly in the sky. It was still night, then, and she could easily keep sleeping. She closed her eye and forced herself to return to her dreams.

The only problem was that she just could not.

Several minutes passed before she finally gave up. Sitting up she looked around and was not surprised to find herself in Hermione’s bedroom. She frowned. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep resting on the older witch’s lap, lulled by a story she was rather enjoying, though it was fairly strange.

A shiver passed her body. The air was too cold and she gathered the blankets to cover herself more thoughtfully. Maybe Hermione had carried her to bed, then, because she did not remember being tucked in. And, if she considered that she was now wearing one of her flannel pajamas, then the older girl surely had done it while she was dead to the world.

Said girl chose that moment to re-enter the room, she was dressed pretty much the same as Luna remembered from the night before, a thin see-through camisole and a pair of, strangely enough, boxers. The older girl’s chest was easily visible and it showed the blonde that it was indeed a very cold night. Her slightly darkened areolas made the younger girl stare and the oldest one blushed, making a conscious effort not to cover herself.

“Sorry I woke you… I really needed to go.” She climbed to the bed again, swiftly taking a sip from a bottle that was at her bedside table and grimacing at the taste. She settled herself beneath the covers, sighing softly when her freezing feet made contact with the warmth she had to escape in order to relive herself.

“It’s okay.” Luna mumbled, her thumb still firmly placed in her mouth, wondering what the girl was drinking. The brunette had taken a larger sip before going to bed the first time they slept together and now she was taking it again. She thought about that for a second before her eyes widened, alarmed. The finger was quickly pulled from her mouth and she promptly put the offending hand under her bottom, looking like any small child who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Hermione smiled, having seeing the girl sucking her thumb ever since the first night she had slept besides her. It was an unconscious thing, as she knew fully well that the blonde fell asleep almost without prompting, and minutes later, the thumb would found its way inside the ever sucking mouth. “It’s fine, Luna.”

The girl frowned. “You are not angry?”

Hermione blinked, truly perplexed at the way the girl had phrased the question. This was a first as Luna was not known to talk ‘normally’. However, she could not think about it too much because the girl was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. “I’d never get mad for something that makes you happy, Luna.”

The little girl’s frown deepened, truly confused. “But…”

The brunette echoed her frown, knowing fully well why the girl did not believe her. “I confess there are things that makes me mad, some more than others, and schoolwork is often at the top of that list.” She scooted over to the other girl, almost knee to knee, and took hold of the hidden hand. “But, I promise you, Luna, I’ll try to never get angry at you again,” she smirked and interlaced their fingers together, not caring about the slight wetness she felt. “At least not until I’ve talk to you about it, okay?”

Luna blinked owlish, sudden tears filling her eyes. She hated the way this woman made her feel. Hermione had been the very first person to ever make an effort to talk to her, as even her mother had talked to her like a baby up until she had died, and her father still talked to her with strange references and crazy stories.

The brunette had been the first to seek contact with her ever since her mother had died, almost six years ago. She had been the first to defend her from an angry teacher, the first to make sure she had eaten, the first that had taken the time to find why she had so much trouble grasping the homework concept, the first that had read her to sleep in several years…

“And I swear, Luna Lovegood, that I will never, ever, get angry for something that makes you happy.”

Hermione Granger was the very first person to ever make her feel truly loved ever since her mother passed away.

With a heavy sob the lithe girl launched herself to the older girl’s arms, the tears that previously had fallen silently were now finally accompanied by the cries of her tortured soul. She had learnt to cry silently, as not to bother others, as not to give them more ammunition to torture her, but this witch, this marvelous human being, was safe to finally let loose and mourn.

Mourn for her mother’s demise. Mourn for her father’s indifference. Mourn for the normal childhood she had been denied. Mourn for the life she had let behind at the Rook. But more importantly, mourn for the love lost she had not have until Hermione had arrived.

 

%MCEPASTEBIN%%MCEPASTEBIN%


	4. Chapter 4

# Chapter Eight – Secret’s Out

Minerva McGonagall was not an easily pleased woman. You just had to do your job as you were supposed to and then she was conformed. Just give her a bottle of firewhiskey, a small pouch of catnip, tell her a good enough joke, or prove that you were, indeed, intelligent, and she was set.

But for her to be truly happy just small things had to happen. Special small things.

Just like the one she was seeing.

Her young friend, a teen she held very close to her hear, that in fact, she would like to call her daughter, was smiling, truly smiling, for the very first time since that day she had come running to her office, declaring that she had finally friends. It was not a full grin, no, nor it was that bothersome little quirk of her lips that was mask worn in front others, in front of teachers and students alike, that was meant to keep them at bay, to protect herself.

No. The smile she was seeing was a small one, barely visible, but it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was a content, happy, smile that made the older woman wonder why the world had been deprived from such a lovely gift.

Hermione was laying on her side, deep asleep. Her legs were bent, half way to her chest, just the other body in bed preventing them to truly bend all the way. One of her arms was being used as a pillow for the flaxen girl, embracing the little girl by her shoulders, her hand gently resting on the blonde hair. The other arm circled the waist of the curled third year, that hand tracing small patterns in the younger girl’s back. Luna simply laid there, turned to the brunette and resting so close to the older girl that it was hard for Minerva to see the girl’s face, hidden in both chestnut and golden hair. The only things visible in between them was one of the thumbs of the youngest firmly placed into her mouth, and a little pale hand groping one the fifth year’s breasts.

Had it been any other person fondling the young brunette, Minerva McGonagall would have been furious. But, she was not blind, Hermione had never been so at ease, so at home, until Luna had entered in her life. And she had arrived to stay.

She had wanted to speak to the young Claw the night before, she wanted to make sure that the decisions she had made in her favor were going to be accepted. She had wanted to tell her that she was no longer to sleep in Ravenclaw’s Tower, that she would be assigned a private room, far from the people that wanted to harm her. She had wanted to tell her that the lack of colors in her uniform was not strange, just uncommon. She wanted to tell her that Professors Lupin and Greenwood were to help her understand the ways of a student.

But the girl had been sleep when she came visiting the night before. So she did the next best thing, she told Hermione.

The brunette had immediately jumped to the chance to officially help the girl. She had offered the spare room of her quarters, and she had also offered to coach the girl in all her subjects, and to guide her through her homework. Minerva smiled at the memory. There was nothing more darling than an excited Hermione… and she had never seen the witch so excited and concerned.

The Headmistress hated to do what she was about to do, simply because the girls were so cute tangled like that together, but she needed to wake them up, even though it was only seven.

Going silently to the side where Hermione was resting, she gently placed her warm hand on the young witch’s shoulder, and shook once, firmly. A deep groan answered her efforts, and she shook her once more, just a tad more forcefully. This time it was a little whine, something close to a mewl, that protested. Minerva smirked. Having had the girl over at her manor last summer had made the older witch realize that the young brunette was not a morning person and that she was as difficult to rise as the dead. However a small, yet functional, ritual always woke her up.

“Neenie, wake up.” She said softly, just waiting a second to add. “One.”

“No.” It was muttered, and barely recognizable, but the older witch had practice when dealing with a half Inferi Hermione.

“Neenie, wake up.” Another second, another shake. “Two.”

“Let go.” The whine made the always stoic witch grin.

“Neenie, wake up.” She said for the third time, the last time she would say this phrase this day. “Thre-”

Before she could finish saying the number the arm that had been holding Luna by the waist moved faster than a Snitch and her hand covered her bottom, where Minerva was getting prepared to slap. “I’m up!” The girl said hurriedly.

Minerva chuckled. “I’m glad.” Just the small ritual and the girl was up, like always. Not that she would ever confess how long it had taken her to train the girl. She could not help herself when she thought of that, though, and she slapped her hard anyway, just where her small hand could not cover her.

Hermione looked at her like the wounded soul she believe she was. That damned woman and her damned habit of spanking her when she was half asleep! She turned back to Luna and her face reddened. The girl was eyeing her with curiosity and a pinch of amusement, with a small smile tugging at her lips, both her hands now clutching the front of her camisole. “At least someone woke up happy.” She muttered.

“Come on, girls, up, up!” Minerva said from her place halfway into the brunette’s wardrobe, where she was taking clothes from the hangers.

Hermione sighed and untangled herself from the younger girl, who decide that was as good time as any to flee the room to find the bathroom. “Not that I don’t love seeing you this early,” she yawned. “But why did you wake us? The train leaves until noon.” She stood and stretched, slightly rubbing her stinging buttock.

Minerva smiled at the teen, still amazed at the level of trust between them. “I’m afraid no student can stay this Christmas, Neenie. The charm stones were too heavily affected yesterday and I’ve had to call a special team to fix them…” The older witch paused to place the clothes she had chosen on the stunned teen’s hands. “They requested the school to be totally vacated, meaning that _all_ of us are leaving today.”

“But…” the girl did not even think of being offended at the name she had been called. She could not leave Hogwarts! A small pang of guilt, a guilt she had been carrying for years now started to surface yet again.

“Hermione,” the stern witch looked at her in contemplation. “You need to see your parents. You haven’t seen them since the summer before your fourth year.”

The younger witch gulped. With a heavy heart she sat on the bed, willing the tears that wanted to escape to stop. How could she possibly tell Minerva that it had been longer than that since she had last seen her parents? Sure she had spent the last summer at McGonagall Manor, and the Christmas before at school, both times in close proximity with the older witch, but she just could not tell her the reasons why she could not go home. “I can’t.” She whispered, her voice broken. The guilt she felt only intensified, knowing that she had been deceiving this woman, the only adult to really like her for who she was.

The Headmistress blinked. “I know this is such a short notice, but I’m certain your parents could easily accommodate to have you.” They had done so in the girl’s second year, when she had planned on staying at school for Christmas but had been forced to leave due the Basilisk that was roaming the school.

The brunette looked up, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes against her will. She had promised herself she was done crying over them, and here she was, still shedding tears because of what they had done. But she was no fool, it still hurt, just as it hurt to know she was lying to the older witch. “Please, Ma- Min, don’t make me do this.”

The older witch frowned, truly taken back at the reaction she was seeing, hearing perfectly the girl’s almost slip and yet choosing to ignore it. Dropping the clothes she had been folding on the dressing table she turned to the younger witch fully. “Neenie, what’s the matter?” She sat next to the fifth year, gently embracing her by the shoulders. “Why won’t you go home?”

Hermione shuddered and tried to come up with a lie, anything that would be better than the true, all the while fighting her tears. “They left for Switzerland a week ago.” She said hurriedly. “They wanted me to go, of course, but I don’t like skiing so-”

“Hermione Jean.” It only took two words from the Headmistress to shut up the girl. They were spoken in such a chilled yet still hot tone that she knew to halt immediately. “Do not lie to me, young lady.”

“It’s not a lie, I sw-”

This time it was the firm, yet gentle grip in her shoulder that clearly warned her of keeping digging her early grave. “Do not even finish that thought, little girl, or you’ll find yourself across my lap again. You know I don’t tolerate you lying.”

The brunette blushed despite the despair she was feeling. She and Minerva’s lap had meet more times that she liked… ever since that stupid accident with the Troll in her first year she had gotten to know the Headmistress’ firm hand and strong belief that there was nothing more effective than a harsh spanking to ensure Hermione did not repeat her mistakes. “I won’t.” She gulped.

“Then tell me. Why don’t you want to go home?”

The younger girl fidgeted. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.” The tears she had fought to stop were winning and threatened to star falling at any moment. “Please, just don’t make me go back. Please.”

The oldest witch looked at her with a mix of concern and love that melted the girl’s heart but told her she was losing against her. She knew Minerva would keep pushing, just as she had pushed her last summer, but she really could not tell the older witch her reasons, she needed to stay firm. “I tried to contact them yesterday, but they didn’t answer.” She told her quietly. “I’ll take you there myself, Hermione, and then we’ll sort this out.”

“No!” The girl sobbed, the tears finally falling. The hands that had been gently resting on her lap suddenly clenched her camisole, her knuckles white in terror. She was truly scared, almost as scared as she had been with Voldemort standing only a few feet before her. “You can’t!”

Minerva’s heart broke at the desperation her young friend was feeling, but she needed to know. She needed to make sure the girl was alright, even though it was clearly obvious she was not. “Tell me why not, Hermione. Tell me why you won’t go back to your parents.”

“Because I don’t know where they are!” The girl finally screamed, letting her hidden secret out. “They left in second year, and I don’t know where they are!”

Minerva sat stunned, not expecting to hear _that_. She had half expected a troubling home, maybe even an abusing home, although that was impossible with the measures the Ministry had… she had never expected the sixteen years old to be abandoned for two years now… “How?” It was the only thing she could come up with. How could this girl survive so long alone, with no means for money or shelter? How this girl could keep the secret? How was it possible to the Ministry to have overlooked such clear case of abandonment? How it was that this girl was not in foster care?

“Please don’t let them take me!” Hermione howled. “Please don’t!”

It then was clear for the Headmistress, the true reason the girl had kept it a secret. “Oh, my dear girl.” She cooed softly, and, with strength fitter for a woman half her age, she effortlessly picked the girl up to sit her sideways on her lap. “Let it out, sweetie, just let it out.”

Hermione cried, her nose firmly tucked on the older witch’s neck. She felt more than saw when a second body appeared at her back, gently hugging her, silently telling her that things would be fine, that she was loved, that she was supported.

Luna looked at the oldest witch from her spot wrapped around the brunette, silent tears falling in pain for the friend. She had heard everything, but she was not sure if she had understood. Why would somebody ever leave this wonderful girl?

Minerva simply looked down to the blonde, rocking the sobbing mess in her lap, wondering the exact same thing.

 

# Chapter Nine – Train Ride

The man sighed. He was so tired and the news from Hogwarts only made his chest hurt worse than it had been for the last days. All the people in the castle had to be evacuated due some darn storm that had gotten in some charm stones’ way.

He still could not get away from work and his house was still not fit for human living, so it had been a real blessing when Molly had accepted taking Harry for the three weeks the holidays lasted. It would allow the boy to be with his friend and him to actually get a little rest for a couple of days before he went hunting more Death Eaters… and would give him a chance to actually start preparing his house for them to live.

He was now currently entering his family old home. It was Sunday and it was his ‘free’ day, so Twelve Grimmauld Place was the last place he wanted to be. As the house was probably more fit for mice than humans, he needed to make sure the old mansion was fit to be lived in once Hogwarts was done for the year. It would not do having Harry’s guardianship without a place for the boy to live after all.

He had fixed the house, more or less, in the time he had been in hiding. The roof had been patched, the cracks in the walls were sealed and the loose carpet, nailed. He had only done enough for him to actually survive in the place, and Kreacher did nothing to help him.

“Who is there?!” The screeching voice of his beloved mother was the first thing he heard as he crossed the threshold. “Kreacher! Who’s there?!”

Sirius sighed again. This was going to be a horrible visit.

XxXxX

The countryside passed in a blur behind the window she was resting against. It was cold, and the window was partially obscured with the steam the five of their breathings created. Small sheep from different sizes suddenly appeared and disappeared in the snow covered ground, only her trained eye and the will to see them made the little white things visible for her.

She could feel the little body curled on her side, wrapped around her torso, cooling her skin, and, much to her content, warming her heart. The steady and gentle rise and fall of the girl’s chest clearly indicated the world that her companion was fast asleep. She squeezed the waist she was holding ever so softly, wondering how in the world she could make sure her life stayed as she wanted it.

In the seats opposite they sat her friends, or who she had considered her friends once. Two mops of fiery red and a mop of untamed black hair where looking at her with something close to fear and accusation. The girl and two boys had been eying her like that for almost two hours now, and she dreaded the hours to come as the journey was still far from over.

“What?” She said finally. She could faintly see her reflection in the window, her chestnuts hair was more tangled than usual, her skin pale and her eyes still a little bloodshot… the usual telltale that she spent a long time crying.

Her voice was scratchy and barely audible, but it was enough to get the angriest of her friends to start. “Bloody hell, Hermione!” Ron hissed at her. “You disappear for the weekend and when you come back you have that thing attached to you! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Hermione slowly turned to look at him. Her eyes vacant of any expression and dull. “I would appreciate if you refer to her by her name, Ron. She is not a thing, she is my friend.”

Ginny blinked. “Loony has no friends, Hermione.” She the chuckled and asked exited. “Oh, I know, you are planning a prank of some sort, right? Can I help? I know some really good ones we’ve pulled on her already! She always falls for them!”

The brunette simply stared at her, her vacant eyes filling suddenly with hate and anger. “She is my friend, Ginevra. You won’t prank her ever again. Understood?”

It was easy for the others to feel the drop in temperature. The glass on both window and door suddenly covering in thin ice. The blonde girl shuddered and Hermione gently wrapped her with the blanket that had been resting in both their laps.

“Mione, what-”

“Don’t call me that, Ronald.” Her hateful gaze turned to the older redhead. “I know you like pranking her too, and I also know you enjoyed making her cry in her first year. You don’t get to call me that.” Truthfully she had only seen him do that once, but she could not pass him to actually do it often, just because it would make him feel powerful for once.

The boy turned red, almost matching his hair in anger. “Fine, _Morgen_.” He sneered the name, just as he was saying a filthy word. “You can’t possibly like her! She’s too strange, even for you!”

Hermione bristled at the name he chose. She did not like it, it was a jinxed name that carried a curse she did not want to dwell on. It did not really help that it was the name Voldemort had used to refer to her, the same name she was called worldwide thanks to the Prophet, the last thing the bloody bastard had yelled after succumbing to both her and Harry’s joined magic. She still did not know how the Prophet had found out about the name, nor the reasons the Dark Lord had to call her that, but it had stuck to haunt her. “She is way better than you, Ronald! More powerful and _intelligent_!”

“Hey! I helped kill You-Know-Who!”

“She would have done more than kill a bloody snake!” She hissed in true anger.

Ginny’s face was the same color as her brother in an instant. “How dare you?” She growled. The Weasley family had taken pride over the fact that Ron had helped defeat the one once known as Tom Riddle, even though his only role had been beheading a piton and fainting afterwards due all the gore he saw.

“Guys,” Harry finally spoke. His voice calm and sweet, but just a little patronizing, both his hands on the shoulders of the redheaded that sat at both sides of him. “Come on, calm down. Mione didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, Harry, I meant it just the way it sounded.” She hissed, the tips of her hairs floated slightly with the static of her anger. The temperature dropped again. “He thinks the sun sets because of him, but he is wrong, he is just a stupid prat with a stupid inferiority complex, too scared to even confront his own shadow and who is always hiding behind you!” The boy simply stood up and fled the compartment, too angry to even form words.

“Hermione!” Harry exclaimed alarmed. Who was this girl and what had she done with his best friend? “What’s gotten into you?”

The brunette sighed, suddenly drained. “I’m tired, Harry.” She slumped in her seat. “Tired of pretending to like him, of pretending to like most people, really. I’m tired of always being the center of attention, of people calling me Morgen in the street and the school. I’m tired of having to have certain friends because I like you, Harry. I’m just tired.”

“Then stop trying to rob the spotlight from Ron.” The remaining redhead all but growled. “Go be friends with the Loony, see if she can be better than us! And Harry is mine, you bitch!” With that she also left, following her fuming brother, knowing full well she had the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice trained well enough that he would defend their honor and go looking for them soon.

“Hermione?” Harry asked softly.

“I’m sorry Harry, is the truth.” She smiled. “You’re like a brother, but I can’t keep putting on with your friends, I’m sorry.”

The green eyed boy nodded. He could understand how a person as intelligent and unique as Hermione could get fed up of Ron and Ginny. Sometimes he got tired of them too, but he liked them enough to overlook their flaws… Hermione simply could not. “I like you too, Mione.” He smiled softly. “Like the sister I never had, but I can’t think I can choose between you two.”

Hermione smiled slightly. “I’m not asking you to. I want to be your friend, just don’t make me to be their friend too. You can spend your time with anyone you’d like, I’m not asking you to leave them for me.” The oldest girl knew Harry was being sent to the Borrow for the holiday, forced out of the school as she had been. She had somehow hoped for a couple of calm weeks just between the two of them, but the school’s charms had gotten in the way.

The boy smiled and got up. Moving slowly, he steeped before the brunette and lightly kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks, Mione.” He quickly blushed and turned to gather his trunk and both of their friends’, which were left behind in the heat of their anger. “I’ve better go look for them.”

Hermione nodded, she knew Harry needed to make sure Ron did not hate him, and that Ginny still wanted to date him. It was not nice, knowing she was a more disposable than the others, but she knew that Harry simply could not stand having the Weasley boy angry at him. She was used to them getting angry at her together, shunning her once in a while, but that did not mean that it did not hurt just a little.

“Good luck with that.” She said softly, wishing her heart did not break at knowing that he would not chose her, even when she had told him she did not care.

Harry finished gathering their things and headed to the door, which glass was now thankfully ice-free. “You know,” He said equally softly. “I’ve always wanted to meet Luna Lovegood. Maybe you could introduce us after the break?”

Hermione smiled. “Count on that.”

With a final nod the boy left the compartment, the almost silent thud that the door made echoing in the silence. Some minutes passed and Hermione simply stared at the white landscape, wondering how life could change in just an instant.

It had taken her an instant to realize that she was different from the other kids at school. It had taken her an instant to find out she was a witch. It had taken her an instant to talk to an elderly witch and finally have a friend. It had taken her an instant to understand that Harry would be by her side forever, even when he was angry at her. It had taken her an instant to know Luna would never leave her heart. It had taken her one instant to realize that her parents were gone for good. It had taken just an instant for Minerva to reveal she was alone.

“I know you are awake.” She said finally, when she was sure her thoughts could kept quiet.

Luna opened her eyes halfway, refusing to meet those of the older witch. “How?” It was asked just above a whisper.

Hermione smiled softly, still staring outside the window. “You actually weren’t sucking your thumb… and your thoughts were too loud.”

The blonde blushed. Having the other three teens seeing her in such a vulnerable position would had been just bad. It could lead to more teasing and much more torment. Fortunately Minerva had talked to her while Hermione packed her trunk and had explained what her plans were for the coming term. She was to live with the brunette Prefect and she was going to receive especial classes in how to study and do her homework. She would had felt happy of those news if they had been delivered before, but Hermione’s reveal of her little secret had put a damper in her merriment, and their plans.

The Headmistress had to inform the Ministry of the older witch’s situation.

Hermione was to be sent to Social Services.

It was highly probable she would end at Foster Care, in a family from almost anywhere in the world as the magical Foster Care System was worldwide.

Given that, it was also highly probable she would not return to Hogwarts.  

“I’ll miss you.” The fifth year’s voice was soft, too soft for Luna’s liking. She could not be sure if the girl was referring to just the holidays or something completely different.

“I love you.” Luna’s voice was equally quiet, equally broken.

Hermione turned to the younger girl, her brain wondering how in the world she had opened for this girl, for this little thing that she had only known for a couple of days. Her mind yelled at her that it was impossible, that she could simply do not care for a complete stranger. However her heart hurt at the thought of never seeing her again, of losing something that she knew was now a part of her soul.

Tears start falling from her deep bronze eyes. “I love you too, Luna.”

 

# Chapter Ten – New Guardian

“Miss Hermione Jean Granger.” The voice echoed in the platform. It was deep, but certainly feminine and clearly heard above the rustle of trunks and the old train motor.

All the students stopped in their tracks and turned to the brown capped witch that stood out like a sore thumb, just at the entrance to Platform 93/4. The woman was tall, her dark hair fell to her shoulders and she was regarding all the students that were stepping out the Hogwarts Express with something that chilled more than one bone.

Movement caught the attention of all the people in the platform as a young brunette girl walked decidedly towards the woman that had caused so much commotion. Every student, and every parent, saw how the Gryffindor Princess held her head high and her step confident, her school truck trailing behind her. A small blonde was holding her hand tightly, soft tears running down her pale cheeks.

“Is that Loony Lovegood?” A shocked murmur was heard from somewhere.

The fifth year Prefect stopped before the taller witch. “I am Hermione Granger.” Her own voice resonated in the sudden silence.

The woman nodded. “My name is Aurora Sterling, from the Abused Children Department.” Exited whispers started at that declaration. “Please follow me.” The older witch turned and left through the portal to Muggle London.

Hermione sighed and turned to Luna, a small smile lightening her face in a fake mask of enthusiasm. She fooled nobody. “Well, here goes nothing.” She hugged the girl to her chest. “I’ll see you in January, Luna.”

The older witch let go and stepped to the entrance, intend of following the woman that now held her fate. She only made it a couple of feet when a small broken voice called her.

“Neenie?”

She turned again, just in time to catch a flying blonde, who practically hugged her with her whole body. Her arms wrapped at her neck just as her legs trapped her waist. The hug lasted only a couple of seconds before the little girl let go with a small smile of her own. “See you in January.”

And with that the smartest witch in the century turned again and left the platform, for which she hoped was not the last time.

XxXxX

“Name?”

“Hermione Jean Granger.”

“Age?”

“Sixteen.”

“Date of Birth?”

“September the nineteen, nineteen seventy-nine.”

“Place of birth?”

“Lewisham, London.”

“Blood Status?”

A slight frown. “Muggle-born.”

“Education?”

“Currently coursing fifth year at Hogwarts.”

“Wand?”

“Is that truly necessary?”

“Please answer the question, Miss.”

A sigh. “Twelve and a half inches, vine, dragon heartstring, unyielding.”

“Very well, Miss Granger, please wait here for one of my coworkers to talk to you.”

The young witch sighed again. It had taken the bloody Abused Children Department, or A.C.D. for short, nearly two days just to ask her those stupid questions she was sure they already knew the answer of. Now she had to wait for a while longer before she was interviewed, and for them to decide what to do with her.

She had spent those couple of days in a small room in what she thought was the magical equivalent to an Orphanage. Fortunately the clerks at the Department had allowed her to keep her trunk so she had at least her books to keep occupied. Her wand had been confiscated, though, something about a kid near her age trying to blast a hole in the wall to escape. She scoffed. She had nowhere to hide, why should she try to escape?

So she was now sitting at the uncomfortable chair she was practically bounded to, in a small room that highly reminded her of the interrogation rooms they used at the cheap Muggle telly shows her mother liked to watch. Her mother. Thanks to her and her father Hermione was currently in this dreadful situation. If she were not so hurt about their abandonment she would have hated them, she was sure of it.

She was halfway through her favorite book, _The Last Battle_ , when the door to her small room was opened. In stepped the same witch that had taken her from the platform.

“Good afternoon, Miss Granger.”

“Good afternoon, Ma’am.”

“I’m sorry it took us so long to get started,” the witch sat herself in the chair next to Hermione. “Your case could easily stir so many questions and anger many people, we had done everything in our power to keep you situation under wraps.”

The brunette frowned. “What do you mean?”

Aurora Sterling sighed. “You are Morgen, one of the Golden Trio. You are the witch that had helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who. That alone is ground for many of our leaders to be angered that your situation had slipped from our noses. You are highly famous and important in the magical community so we don’t want the public to know. However, you are also only a fifth year, and Muggle-born, that, along with of how did you managed to escape the Ministry had raised many questions I hope you can answer.”

“I’ll try.” The brunette answered, wondering why the blood status was so important to these people.

“First things first,” The black-jet haired woman took out a small vial from the inner pocket of her robe. “Drink it.” She ordered softly.

“What’s this?” The younger witch asked suspiciously.

“It’s a potion that will help you answer me as honest as possible, and with no need for me to ask for details, as it will make sure you tell me anything you consider important.”

“Veritaserum?” The girl asked alarmed, knowing full well using that was against the law unless the one applying it was an Auror.

“No, girl.” Aurora blinked, slightly impressed someone so young know about the Truth Potion. “This is just a mild potion intended to relax you and prompt you to tell me everything you think I should know.”

With a small frown, but really wanting to get thing started, she quickly swallowed the potion, which surprisingly enough, tasted like strawberry juice.

“Okay, then, Miss Granger. Since when you’ve been alone? How did it happen?”

Hermione blinked, not really sure she wanted to answer that, but knowing she was going to be as truthful as possible anyway. Maybe they could let her get emancipated! “Well, I got back from Hogwarts after my second year, and when I came back they were gone. There was no one waiting for me at the Platform, so I just took the underground and went home.”

“How?” the witch was actually perplexed. First and second years kids were the most guarded and protected in Hogwarts, mainly because kids that age were still considered too young to take care of themselves.

“I _am_ Muggle-born.”

“Right. Please continue.”

“I arrived home and they simply were not there. I guessed they had been detained at work, so I just order myself some dinner and went to bed. When I woke up they were still not there, so I called their practice. They did not answer. I called my dad’s second job at the High School, but they hadn’t heard of him since term started.

“I got worried then. I went to their room, a place I had forbidden to enter, and hope to find something, a note, a letter, something.” She sighed, small tears of frustration gathering in her eyes at remembering the desperation she felt that day. “I found nothing. No letter, no note, nothing! They took their clothes and money from the safe. The room was barren except from the bed.

“I then went looking through the house and found that they had taken their books, my father’s cheque book, my mother’s recipe box. They took everything theirs and left my things in my room. It took me a while to believe it, but they were not there.”

“And then?”

“Then I went to Miss Patmore’s. She is the lady that lived next to us. She told me that my parents had been gone since almost a month after Christmas; nobody saw them leave, they just disappeared one day and the neighbors finally realized they were gone around that time. She became highly suspicious that I had arrived so I told her that I was going with them but I kinda had a problem with my school and I needed to stay some days in Lewisham but that I had thought my father or mother would be waiting for me. The poor woman was so mortified I was alone that she offered me her guest room for a couple of days. After that I told her I had heard from my parents, and that I had permission to stay alone at the house until I had to go back to the Lycée I am supposedly attending. Miss Patmore still looked after me for that summer, though. Then on September the first I took the train back to Hogwarts. I hadn’t been back since.”

“You are a bright witch, Miss Granger. I know you know of the wards we place in every magical child home to prevent situations like this. You have no idea how many children are abused and abandoned every year. I also know one of my colleagues went to your home that summer and you somehow convinced her of leaving you alone. How did you evade the A.C.D. wards?”

Hermione snorted, those stupid wards were the easiest to manipulate she had ever known. Any witch or wizard could easily fix them so that any abuse or ill towards a child could stay hidden. She knew at least two cases where the Ministry was simply blind to child abuse and, as she had discovered, most of their employees were totally stupid. “I told, I think her name was Ms. Thornwood, that my parents had gone to France, but that I hadn’t wanted to go with them. I convinced her that Miss Patmore was the one that was taking care of me by my parents’ wishes, telling her that I needed to stay in England in order to maintain my scholarship. She simply asked Miss Patmore if I was under her care, Miss Patmore said yes and then was obliviated.”

“And the wards? You know they are activated when a magical kid is by themselves, or abused in any way or form.” The older with said with just a little exasperation behind her voice.

She mentally scoffed, knowing that her attitude was irking the woman before her. While she was underage and could not fix the wards by herself without tipping the Ministry, she had simply chosen a different path to avoid detection. “I haven’t been there since that summer. I stayed my third year Christmas at school, then part of my fourth year summer hopping around hotels, telling people at school I would be at France with my parents, and the rest of it with the Weasleys. The next Christmas I was again at school and last summer I stayed with Professor McGonagall, asking her to help me with my wandless magic.” At that the older witch gasped. “I was going to stay this year at Hogwarts again, but the Headmistress send me home, one thing led to another, she found I was alone… that’s why I’m here.”

The tall woman nodded, so far the girl was clearly smarter than most children that ended in this room. “What about money, Miss Granger? Hogwarts is by far the most expensive Wizarding school, but it costs a decent amount of money, as do the materials and robes.”

Suddenly tears started to form in her eyes, all her annoyance at the stupidity of the Ministry gone. She closed her eyes as they started to fall and a sob echoed in the room, knowing this was a subject she was still touchy about did not really made the sharp pain in her heart hurt less.

The older witch’s heart stopped for a second, wondering exactly why that question had prompted such a strong emotion. “My Grandmama died shortly after I turned ten. She left me everything that was hers, her money, her house, her business and her investments.” The older witch released a breath she did not know she was holding. Fortunately Miss Granger had been spared of the professions young women like her had more often than not been forced to take. This girl had not been forced to sell her body in order to survive, and just that knowledge made the Ministry agent’s day.

Hermione flinched when a hand rested on her shoulder briefly, conveying the older woman’s support but only making her nervous, she had never been big on physical contact and her grandmother’s death always made her especially sensitive. “Grandmama was very strict that I was to be able to use the money and to take the business decisions the moment she passed away. She always told me she trusted my judgment better than my father’s that’s why she left me everything.” She smiled through her tears. “She was not poor, she left me with enough to live comfortably for at least ten years, and also left me the means to keep making money with her investments and the several small business she owned. I’ve been taking care of them since she d-died, so I have the money to attend Hogwarts easily.”

The other witch nodded. “I think you are, indeed, too smart for your own good, Miss Granger.”

Hermione wanted to tell her that it was them who were just too stupid and that did not have a pinch of common sense, but thankfully the potion did not forced her to say that, as it had not forced her to say several things she knew could only dig her deeper in this problem or that could easily make some of her friends’ lives more difficult than they already were. “What happens next?” She said as she dried the last of her tears.

Aurora Sterling smiled slightly. “Next, you are taken to your foster home, and we hope that you are adopted soon.”

The girl frowned. “Couldn’t I get emancipated?”

The older witch shook her head. “I’m sorry, Miss Granger, but the fact that you hid your situation for two years makes it impossible to grant you that option. Knowing you needed to inform the authorities of your parents’ leave, and deceiving a Ministry employee just show that you are, to the law, unfit to look after yourself. And you will be punished accordingly.”

The girl gulped. She remembered what she had read in her law books, the punishments the Ministry handed out were usually a short trip to Azkaban or some magic dampening, often taking the accused’s wand and snapping it in two. “What kind of punishment?”

The Ministry employee simply smiled wickedly. “We in A.C.D. have decided that your punishment should be handed by your guardian, as we know it would certainly make a bigger impact on you that way.”

“M-my guardian?” Her whole body shook; she did not like how the other woman was looking at her. _‘Pull it together, woman! You are a Gryffindor, the bravest of the houses!’_

“Yes, your new guardian, who had been listening to this whole conversation. They had pulled several strings to ensure you were place in their care, but I dare to say you would not like what is in store for you.” A knock was then heard at the door. “Oh, there they are! Please come in!” The now cheerful woman called.

Hermione simply stared at the person that had just entered the room. The small flash of hope she had felt was instantly vanished by the fierce glare she received. She whimpered. Aurora Sterling was right. She was not going to like what awaited her.

 

# Chapter Eleven – Mama

Sirius sighed once again. It felt like he was doing that more and more. He had spent several hours cleaning the first floor and even with magic it had really taken a toll on him. There was only one last place to clean on that floor before he left to rest for at least the evening.

It was a room he had not been since he had been disowned. It was the stupid second drawing room that was the favorite of his mother. It was the big one, the green one, where the long, confusing, family tapestry sat. It was a place both his brother and him where forbidden to be without an adult around. It was the room where most of his family’s treasures and dark books were.

It was also the room where his father, Orion, liked to torture him and Regulus. Where the important meetings with fellow purebloods were held. Where many hours had transpired, trying to learn the family’s history, legacy and desired future.

Entering the room that held so many bad memories, Sirius did a double take the moment his eyes found his name in the tapestry. Just as it had been the last time he saw it his face had been blasted off, just a black blur on the great family tree, nothing unnusual. But what got his attention was the name that was just beside him.

“What the…” He muttered, scared for the first time since the day Lily and James died.

Because just besides him a forbidden name was imbedded with black, deep letters. The man’s known face connected with a marriage branch to one of his cousins, a cousin that was not married to _that_ man.

But what made him pale and almost drop to his ass was the branch that sprouted from the joined names. A baby, a girl, was born of a union that was unnatural, unmoral, and simply and truly wrong.

His eyes go wide and his breath came short at the youngest addition to the Black line: _Capella M. Black._

XxXxX

Tears streamed down her face, the occasional sniff was the only sound besides the cracking of the fire in the room. Her arms hung loosely at her sides and her hands were clenching the soft fabric of her boxers, itching to move to a much more desired place, but she knew better than to move them. Her legs were starting to tire, a firm indication she had been in the same position for far too long, yet she did not dare to shift her weight form one leg to another… she knew she was been watched.

She could easily feel the eyes in her back and she would not risk angering her tormentor, so she tried to distract herself by memorizing the complex pattern in the wall. The old wallpaper was still as bright as it had been when new, the soft cream color of the background and the just barely there green made for a combination she rather liked. She had spent many hours in this room, but she had not really stopped to consider the color of the walls. Maybe she could devote a day or two to explore the Manor and simply observe the wallpapers, maybe-

“You are daydreaming.”

The stern voice made her crash back to Earth, but she did not answer. She knew better than that. She also knew that she was supposed to be thinking about the reasons that had led her to this place, in this very uncomfortable position, and with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Some minutes later a warm hand rested on the small of her back, making her tense in an instant, her hands holding on her loose boxers for dear life. Nothing happened for a second, but then a soft voice called her. “Come here.”

Finally relaxing, she let out a sob, new tears streaming down her face. She felt rather than saw how the warm hand took one of hers and led her away from the corner she had been facing. A few seconds later she felt herself being lowered onto a soft lap and she could not help but jump a little when her much tender bottom made contact with it. Long bony arms hugged her and she left herself melt onto the wonderful witch that was holding her. “I’m sorry!” She sobbed onto her neck.

“Shh, my dear girl.” The sweet voice of Minerva McGonagall cooed. “Everything is forgiven now.”

That simply phrase only created more tears and the exhausted little witch let herself be loved and cared for. The guilt she had been carrying around for more than two years was finally gone. She knew she had been lying to Minerva for a long time now, and the more time that had passed, the more the guilt she had felt.

Hermione was forgiven now, so everything was right in her world. She had not liked the consequences of her actions, though. This had been the first time she had caned her, just the final touch to a severe and long spanking, and she was not looking forward to an encore.

She feared to think to lie to the stern Headmistress ever again.

Still, the freedom she felt at finally coming clean to the older witch was too much for her lo process. So she simply let herself feel. Feel how she was been taken care of, how one warm hand combed through her hair, how other caressed softly her bottom. She felt the gentle kisses that had been dropped at the top of her head, and the strong heartbeat that reminded her that this was real. She was finally at peace and that made her eyes drop tiredly, her tears still running.

“Hush, little Neenie, hush.” The Headmistress whispered in her ear as the brunette fight off sleep.

“I’m sorry, Mama.” It was just a half awake murmur, an almost silent plea, but it changed everything.

Both witches freeze at that, Hermione’s drowsiness forgotten in an instant. Both knew that name had almost escaped the younger witch ever since the beginning of their shared summer, and both had chosen to ignore it. They both also knew that it was a name she had never called any other, not even the girl’s biological mother.

Hermione was the first to react, and she launched herself far from the older witch, to stand at the other side of the Headmistress small private library in which all her punishment were held when they were in the Manor. “I’m s-sorry, Headm-mistress.” She managed to say unsteadily, forcing her tears to disappear and not paying attention at her surroundings, nor her frantically beating heart and erratic breathing. “It won’t happen again.”

The girl tried to make an exit, fully aware that after her post-spanking cuddles she was free to go, not wanting to face the woman she considered more of a mother than a friend. She was stopped, however, when said woman simply embraced her and hugged her to her chest.

“My dear Hermione.” Minerva said, her voice breaking with what the younger believed was barely suppressed emotion. “You know I fought tooth and nail to be your guardian. You also know that I’m still fighting to adopt you.” She held the girl at arm’s length, allowing the teen to see her own tears falling. “I’d be honored to be called your mother, Neenie. As I’ll be honored if you let me call you daughter.”

Hermione’s limp arms finally came to life and she embraced the older witch for dear life, wondering what she had done to deserve such love from a woman many considered unfeeling, wondering if this was just a dream she was having, as many she used to have. She simply nodded. For the first time in her life she had no words.

XxXxX

“Moon Moon,” a rich baritone voice called her. “An owl has come to see you!”

The blonde girl frowned from the tree branch she was hanging upside down from. Nobody send her letters. The only mail she ever got was her Hogwarts’ letter every July. It was December. “Coming!” She yelled to her father. A letter… she would like to write a particular letter of her own, but she was not sure that she was allowed to.

“Hurry Moon Moon! The Bustrors are starting to make the little guy skittish!”

Luna sighed. And people wondered why she talked as strange as she did. Still, she let herself fall from her favorite branch and ran inside the Rook. It would do no good to the owl to be impatient for long… especially around her father.

She found the owl in the kitchen, trying its best to avoid the net her father was trying to catch it with. “Daddy!” She giggled, knowing her father confused the little thing’s gender. “Leave her alone!”

“But Moon Moon!” He said happily. “He is filled with Desmurgs!”

“Daddy!” She scolded. “Let me have it! And it’s a she!”

The man pouted and Luna had no trouble knowing he had been smoking elven leaves recently, yet the man silently left the kitchen.

The blonde girl sat at the table and called the little thing to her. She had always been big on animals, both magical and non-magical, and she could see this little girl was a really young Pygmy Owl, its grey feathers caught the light in a mesmerizing way, almost as if the owl had small white highlights, and the letter it was carrying was almost double the size of her little leg.

“Oh, little thing, who sent you?” She had always had a better connection with animals than with humans, and she knew that postal owls were the smartest out there, and that they would not judge her.

She carefully took the letter and smiled instantly at the way her name was written. There was only one person that she knew who would actually address her by her name, not Loony or Miss Lovegood. Giving the little thing some crumbs from breakfast, she looked as the small owl flew to one of the ceilings beams and fell asleep. That only made her smile more, knowing the owl was asked to wait for her response.

Her smile widened to a full on grin as she unrolled the parchment.

_My dear Luna,_

_I believe that by the time this letter is in your hands Christmas had already passed, but even so, Merry Christmas! I know just a week has gone by, but I really miss you._

_I’m sorry I couldn’t write sooner, but my guardian doesn’t have a personal owl and we couldn’t leave for Diagon Alley until yesterday. My guardian is a very busy person and had been so swamped in work and my adoption process to even see me for more than an hour a day. I hope that changes soon, though, because I really want to go exploring, but I’m grounded until further notice and I can’t go out the house without an adult until then, not even to the gardens… seeing as there aren’t any other adults around… well, I’m stuck here for the foreseeable future._

_But, I do have many things to do, like holiday homework (don’t worry about yours, we’ll be doing it when we get back) and reading. There is a huge library here at the Manor (not counting my guardians’ private library), and I haven’t even read half of it, so I know I’ll be busy enough for a while. I also need to get the house elves used to me, and I believe that means I have to spend some time with them… I’m planning on teaching them how to play poker, maybe that way I’ll be less bored in the future._

_Yes, I know I haven’t told you who my guardian is, but I won’t, hehehe. We do hope the adoption goes through before term starts and_ I _hope to adopt my guardian’s last name. I haven’t told them, yet, but I’m sure they’ll agree and I want it to be a surprise, for both you and the whole school. I have the feeling you know who I’m talking about, don’t you? If so, please don’t tell me, I really want to believe this will surprise you._

_I know I should feel bad that I won’t legally be a Granger, but I can’t but feel really happy knowing the people who brought me to the world won’t be my relatives any longer. I should feel bad they are gone and there is someone trying to replace them… but I just want to cry of happiness… I guess I’m just broken that way._

_Oh, by the way, let me introduce you to Argo, the little owl that had delivered this letter. She is my new familiar seeing as Crookshanks, my cat, didn’t want to come back with me to Hogwarts after the summer. She is to wait for you if you want to answer this letter with her, just, please, let her rest for a while. She is rather young and I’ve asked my guardian where you lived and seeing as I’m in Scotland… well, the poor thing must be exhausted._

_I’ll see if I can convince my guardian to let me visit or if you can come over, but seeing that my ass was beaten not too long ago, I really have no hope. Still, maybe miracles exist._

_Please give my regards to you father. I wait for you letter._

_Hermione (hopefully not for long)Granger_

Luna sat stunned for several minutes after reading the letter. She was not sure what was that had surprised more: the fact that indeed Hermione had written to her, the fact that she was already ready to be adopted, the fact that she referred to her as _her_ dear Luna, the fact that the brunette was returning to Hogwarts… or the fact that McGonagall was going to be the one to adopt her.

“Argo?” She called softly and the little grey owl came down flying to her shoulder. “Come with me… I need to find parchment and a quill…”

It looked like she did was allowed to write that letter she so wanted to write after all.


	5. Chapter 5

# Chapter Twelve – The First Kiss

_Dear Neenie,_

_I’m glad you’ve finally found someone worth your love. I know that you love your guardian, otherwise you wouldn’t talk about her like that. I don’t really like surprises, so I’ll come outright and tell you that I’ll like to see our classmates’ faces when Hermione McGonagall arrives to school. I know it took me a while to recover from that new._

_Why are you grounded? Are you already being a pain to your new mother? Or you are paying for past mistakes? I know you and Professor McGonagall have a special bound and I suspect you two have a history together, and although I’m curious, you don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to. That little bit about you being beaten was a joke, right? She didn’t actually, well, you know, right?_

_Don’t feel bad about wanting for better things, I can’t understand how somebody, anybody, would like to get rid of you. You deserve better than what your parents had given you. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I do know that nobody deserves what had happened to you. You are one of the lucky ones to have someone who loves you already waiting for you. I do hope the adoption goes through soon._

_I don’t know about holiday homework… I believe I have none, but seeing as I didn’t know exactly that I was supposed to do school things on my own time… well, maybe I do have some._

_Potter came by the other day, just before Christmas. He came alone, not a Weasley behind him, and he was rather nice. A little nervous, I think, but he was polite and not once called me Loony. I guess your little display on the Express scared him. He came asking about you. I know he is your friend, but I’d hoped he’d come sooner after the whole school saw you being led away by an A.C.D. employee. He asked if I knew anything, but I didn’t say… I wasn’t sure what you wanted to tell people, because_ everybody _knows something had happened. That dumb woman was not subtle at all._

 _Either way, I’ve asked Daddy if I could go over or if you could come over, and he said either was fine, at least if_ you _are allowed. Floo in anytime you’d like, I’m not going anywhere, we could spend the day here or if you prefer, we could head back to your place. Just Floo to ‘the Rook’ and you’ll be set._

_I’m sending my letter with Argo, she is a smart little girl and very cuddly, just like you._

_Thank you for writing to me. I hope we can make and habit out of this._

_Love, Luna._

Hermione smiled warmly at the awkwardly rolled parchment and the barely readable letter. Luna needed to practice her writing, that was for sure, but she could see that a writing Luna was much more expressive than a talking Luna. She rather liked it.

“Tell me, Argo.” She requested her tired little grey owl. “Was she happy?”

Argo simply hooted, and closed her eyes, truly worn out after traveling across most of the Island in just a couple of days.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She smirked at the little thing, still amazed that Minerva, _Mama,_ had given her to her as one of her Christmas presents. She was not used to receive presents as her biological parents did not believe in the holiday. She had not gotten any from her Grandmama either, as the older woman had always believed that the best gift she could have been given was a wad of cash and a lecture on where to invest it or what was smart to buy. She had no other relatives, or any other who would actually buy her something as since third year neither Harry nor Ron had send her anything, so having presents was something just especial. She herself had only bought presents for a really small amount of people, but she had only sent their presents to one. She did not buy Luna something though, and that was something she hoped could change soon.

She had just read the letter for the third time and her heart warmed as it had done the previous times. Luna actually wanted her to keep writing to her… and that she wanted to meet with her before the holidays ended.

“You think Mama would be okay if I go away for the day?” She asked her sleeping avian familiar.

“No, she wouldn’t.” A voice called from behind her, making her jump.

“Hi, Mama.” Hermione smiled impishly once her heart stopped beating furiously.

The older witch raised an eyebrow. She eyed the bedroom with just barely concealed amusement as she made her way to the bedside table where she deposited the bottle she had been carrying, having to move a couple of books and papers in order to do so. The younger witch always managed to make her room look like a library had thrown up: the bed was buried in books, the desk was covered in parchment and the floor was at least an inch deep in various study items, such as text books, researches, Muggle books, potion ingredients and more. The only spaces free were the rather big cat bed where Crookshanks liked to spend his days and the space around where Argo’s new cage sat at the top of the girl’s low dresser.

This room had belonged to the young Gryffindor since the summer, and it clearly resembled the girl’s spirit. It was themed a light lilac, with deep purple accents. The bed was bigger than her one at school, but the flower pattern was pretty much the same one, just as the soft mauve sheets were. There was no wallpaper, as all the wall space had been filled with bookcases… bookcases that were currently half empty but should had been tidied earlier in the day.

“Hello, darling.” She smiled at the seated girl that was looking up to her from her place in the floor, a top of a fluffy pillow. “Care to tell me why haven’t you done your room?”

The young brunette winced. She knew she had forgotten something! “I got sidetracked, Mama.” She answered honestly. She was still amazed at how well that word came out her mouth, it was like she had always called the older witch that.

“Really?” It was no secret that the girl was a lost cause when trying to tidy her room… there were too many things that caught her eye when she was supposed to put her books away. There were always a page, an incantation, an explication that she had never seen before and she had to read it before doing anything else. “And may I know exactly what entertained you?”

The younger girl beamed at her. “Luna answered!” She almost squealed like a little girl. She was excited, that was clear, but Minerva wondered for a second if the girl’s enthusiasm was healthy as she had never seen her act like that. “She asked me to visit. Can I, Mama? Please?”

The Headmistress sighed. “You are still grounded, young lady.”

“Mama!” Hermione whined. It felt nice to finally have someone to whine to. It made her heart ache in a nice way. “I can’t sit comfortably yet, why am I grounded?” She really could not sit as she was used to. The older witch was a menace with that damned cane and she still had to use a pillow to sit comfortably for long periods of time, just as she was doing right now.

The older witch frowned, a little anger peeking behind her eyes. She knew she had punished the girl, and that after every punishment was delivered the girl was forgiven and the transgression forgotten, but what Hermione had done was beyond anything she had imagined. The girl had not only kept a secret that could be dangerous for her, but she had also hid from and deceived the Ministry for two years, not to mention that she had lied to her every time she had asked her about her parents.

Minerva had gone farther than she had ever gone with the girl’s punishment. Caning the girl had been a little too extreme, but felt accordingly to the offense she had committed. She was grounded, though, because the Headmistress was still a little angry at her. _‘But she’d endured her caning, that should been enough.’_ A voice in her head said softly, a voice that sounded too much like Remus. ‘A _nd she hadn’t asked for anything in the time she’s been here, she’s been a sweetheart and had been behaving like the cutie she is.’_

“Please, Mama?” The girl looked at her with her large, deep, doe like eyes. “Please?”

 _‘And Luna is currently her only friend.’_ The older witch sighed. “When did she tell you to go?”

Hermione silently cheered. “She said to drop in anytime, and that we can spend the day in the Rook or in here.”

The older woman smiled at the clearly delighted brunette. Today the Headmistress had done something right. “Then finish your room. If you are done by lunchtime you can go and invite her to eat with us. If not, then you can always go there afterwards.”

“Yes!” The girl practically launched herself from her spot to the older woman’s arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Minerva chuckled and returned the hug. “Hurry up, Neenie.”

“Yes, Mama.”

XxXxX

The little blonde lay on her belly just in front of her fireplace, her face cupped in her hands and her crossed legs were up, almost touching the top of her head. She knew it would take Argo at least two full days to reach Hermione, and that even then it was still just a possibility for the older witch to actually visit. Never mind she had wrote her she was grounded, there was still the chance that the brunette really did not want to visit.

But still, she waited in hope that the girl actually decided to drop by. She had nothing she had rather do, and there was no much entertainment when her Daddy was high on elven leaves or asleep thanks to Ozian Green Elixir. She had heard the Weasleys yelling and laughing not too long ago, surely flying around, but she had never been invited, and truth to be told, she did not like flying. She had liked to fly with her mother, true, but ever since the old Potion Master passed away she had not been on a broom for longer than necessary. That was yet another thing she was teased about.

Suddenly the fireplace spurted green flames and the little blonde could not help but grin wickedly.  

Before the young brunette could actually step in, 43 kilograms of Luna tackled her front and made both females fell in the soot covered fireplace. Rich, deep, happy filled laugh echoed in the small room. “Miss me, Luna?”

The blonde stared down to the girl she was sitting on. Happy tears rolling down her face. “I thought the Chimeras were going to keep you forever.”

The older witch smiled up to the girl sitting on her stomach. “I thought so too… but Mama wouldn’t let the Ministry have me.”

The blonde tilted her head to the left, confused. “Mama?”

Hermione blushed. “Yes, Mama… it wouldn’t do to call her Minerva, or Professor anymore, would it?”

The younger one smiled. She leaned down and pecked the still blushing girl on the lips. “I guess not.”

The fifth year only blushed more as Luna get up and swiftly helped her to get on her feet. Coughing quietly she noticed how the blonde kept the hand she had used to help her in one of hers. “Mama said you can come have lunch with us, if you’d like.”

“I’d love to.”

 

# Chapter Thirteen – Interlude I: Shenanigans

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, come on. She won’t find out.”

Luna looked at her with clear suspicion in her eyes, but still entered the big fireplace next to the brunette.

Hermione smiled at her friend’s concern, happy that the girl was talking ‘normally’ while scared, as it was Luna’s habit to start talking in riddles when she was stressed. “Relax, Little Moon. We won’t even be there for longer than necessary.”

The blonde beamed pet name the fifth year had started calling her when they were by themselves and for a second forgot what the older girl had planned for the day. She was reminded harshly, though, when Hermione called loudly: “Diagon Alley!”

In an instant both were at the Leakey Cauldron, surrounded by the sounds of a lively magical tavern. Luna blinked amazed and allowed herself to be pulled into the masses of wizards and witches by Hermione’s hand. The blonde girl had never been at the magical alley, her father always doing the shopping needed for her, so it was a real sight for the recluse girl. “Wow.” It was all she could manage to murmur.

The brunette smirked ahead of her, having heard the lithe witch. She had wanted to take Luna shopping for a while now, but her Mama’s stupid rules had made it impossible until now. The Headmistress was out of the Island for the day, having been called by Madame Maxim to help her fix a little problem one of the Beauxbatons’ students had gotten herself into. It was then the perfect day to sneak out the house to retrieve an excited little blonde and take her to one of the places she felt more comfortable with: Flourish and Blotts.

Her Mama had told her the night before that she was not to leave the Manor, that it was okay for Luna to visit, but that she wanted the brunette home… of course that was not in the girls’ plans for the day. “Let’s go to Gringotts first, I need money.”

The second year nodded. She did not know what that meant, but it certainly sounded fun.

An hour later a slight green Luna and a lot greener Hermione found themselves wandering the big bookshop, looking for something that could be Luna’s Christmas gift. The goblin car ride had been fun for the blonde but the brunette had been reminded the reasons she liked the Muggle banking system better. Most of her money was in the Muggle world, so it was easier for her to have access to it, but after she had received her acceptance letter she had invested a little on the wizarding world, so she had a small vault at the goblin bank for that money.

She considered herself lucky her vault was not as deep as other, more ancient, ones were, but she hated the goblins. They looked at her with a mix of curiosity, pity, and even some kind of anger behind their eyes. Opening her account when she was eleven had been a real pain, the goblins insisting there was no chance that Hermione Jean Granger could have one. It had taken the smart girl several months between her acceptance letter and the start of term to crack them by their own legal system. She had to study hard and long all their stupid rules and books to inform them, that yes, any witch or wizard from their tenth birthday upwards, with any kind of blood status and with the money and desire to do so could open a bank account at any time and in any from, under any name or nickname chosen by the human. Thus, with no reason to say no, Gringotts had to open her account.

It still made Hermione angry to think about it.

But, they were in the Alley searching for something to buy Luna as a Christmas gift. Seeing as they had met just before leaving school, Hermione was not able to buy anything for her as she had did with Ron and Harry at her last Hogsmaede visit. Also, with her Mama busy at all times and with her grounding, she really had no time or means to buy her something.

The blonde had accepted to be given something she herself could choose, but she had thought they were going to wait until summer to actually go around to do the shopping, knowing full well that Minerva was against leaving Hermione going anywhere without an adult, excluding the Rook of course… the older woman was still a tad angry at the elusive brunette.

So, it had come as a surprise when a smiling Neenie had knocked at her fireplace asking to go shopping to Diagon Alley. When proposed her gift the first time Hermione had visited she had chosen a book, thinking that it could be easy enough to pick something cheap and entertaining, she just did not thought of how big and diverse her options were going to be.

“Hey, what about this one?” The brunette asked her as she approached her from behind, carrying a medium sized book that looked had seen better days.

Luna took it and read the cover: ‘Great Mythological Animals and How to Avoid Them’. She smiled. “It’s perfect.” She pecked her friend’s lips in thanks, as they had been doing on and off since that first time at the Rook. Sometimes Hermione would kiss her, other times it would be Luna doing the stealing, but all the time both were left happy.

The brunette smiled and puffed her chest proudly, knowing she had done something right at choosing a book from the kid’s section as she had received a kiss. “Great! Let’s keep looking for more books then.” And with that the older girl left a confused Luna behind.

It took the blonde almost three hours to pry the book-obsessed Gryffindor from her favorite store.

XxXxX

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, come on. He won’t find out.”

Hermione smirked at how her own words from a couple of days before were thrown back at her. “Fine.” She relented. Picking the small green pipe she put it on her lips and softly inhaled. A second after she was coughing like there was no tomorrow. “Gross!” She whizzed.

Luna smiled. That had been the same reaction her first time with elven leaves had been. The stuff was nasty the first time someone tried it, but with time one get used to the slight burn and the feeling of fire on the lungs. “You’re just a baby.” She mocked, picking the pipe from the still coughing girl’s fingers and taking her own drag from it. “See? That’s how you do it.”

The brunette frowned. Elven leaves were by much the most accessible drug the wizarding community had and its use was not even limited to any age. Everybody could buy a bag of them, if they had the money to do so. Elven leaves were expensive, mostly due their demand and the years it took the High Elves to grow the plant, dry the leaves and then enchant them to preserve the magical effect they had.

Some wizards frowned upon the use of such a powerful substance, but many more were just glad the Ministry was ‘marvelous’ enough to leave the poor narcotic alone. Many compared it to some or other Muggle drug and that was why most parents did not like their children using them… it was just beneath them. Other parents, though, thought that the drug was just that, a drug and as such was not meant to use it on regular basis.

Yet all the parents thought that children were not to use them at all, hence the sneaking around they were doing.

The use of the drug was not addictive, but the effects by themselves sometimes were. The hallucinations that followed a good smoke were happy filled ones, most of the time showing the users a tiny bit of their dreams come true, so it was really no hard to imagine that it was something her Mama would be set against her doing. She mentally shrugged. _‘Oh well, what she doesn’t know won’t harm her.’_ Taking the pipe from her friend she had another go, smiling softly when the hallucinations started taking place.

Yes, she could see why the leaves could become addictive. She took another drag.

 _‘I didn’t think Luna was_ that _flexible! Oh, wait, is she going to lick down the- yep, she did.”_

XxXxX

“I don’t like flying.”

“Me neither.”

“Then why are we holding brooms and getting ready to fly?”

Hermione sighed. “Mama wanted us to do something outsides, remember?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t explain the flying.”

The brunette shrugged. “Mama is so big on Quidditch that she wants me to learn to fly… so I guess I wanted you to suffer with me.”

The blonde blinked. She did not like to fly because she was not really comfortable off the ground, but she _knew_ how to fly due her own mother liking the heights. Hogwarts offered a course on flying obligatory to all the students in their first year, so she was sure Hermione had taken it. But… “Did you say you don’t know how to fly?”

The older witch blushed and looked down. She knew Luna would catch that. She kicked the snow under her feet softly, trying to think of something, anything to say other than the true. “I do, it’s just that I really don’t like it…” She winced, her voice had come way too high and nervous to actually be believed.

Luna gaped. Hermione did not know how to fly. Hermione did not _know_ something. “Oh. Dear. Merlin.” She breathed. “You don’t know how!”

The brunette looked at the girl with pleading eyes. Her large doe like eyes were sorrowful and filled with embarrassment and pain. “I might have failed flying lessons.” She admitted in a small voice.

The blonde almost fell from the shock. That was just impossible to do. Even the dumbest kids were able to pass the class, it was easy enough. Just show up, mount a broom for a couple of minutes each class and you were set. “How?” It was all she could think of.

If it was possible, the fifth year’s blush deepened. “I might have skipped the classes after the third lesson. Stupid broom kept hitting me.” She mumbled, but it was easy for Luna to understand her. “Mama didn’t like it.” She added regretfully while unconsciously rubbing her just recently healed derrière.

Luna could not help it. It seconds she was on the floor, laughing so hard it was a miracle she had not produce an avalanche somewhere in the mountains. “Oh, Merlin! I can’t believe it!”

Hermione pouted. She was not sure why she had asked Luna to join her in her fruitless attempt to learn to fly. She wanted the company, sure, but she had thought the girl could be a little more supportive with her broom problems. She sunk onto the recently fallen snow with her arms crossed and prompted her lower lip to tremble. It was not long before the thick tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Meanie!” She whined to her friend.

The blonde stopped laughing in an instant. The brunette was not prone to crying, she was the one supposed to comfort, not being comforted. “Hermione?” She asked tentatively.

The older girl just whimpered while inside she was laughing. She knew that taking acting lessons back at primary school would help her in life. She prompted her tears to fall with more vigor, throwing a silent charm to keep them flowing in big, fat, drops. With little thought she let herself lay flat on the snow before curling into a small ball with her back facing the other girl.

Luna gasped, not knowing what had made her friend so sensitive and so, well, childish. She saw with not small panic that the girl’s shoulders were shaking. Maybe the flying thing was much more of a sensitive subject for the brunette. “Neenie? I’m sorry.” She said softly.

“No.” The other girl whined again but there was something more in her voice.

The blonde blinked. That actually sounded like laughing. The shoulders shook with more vigor and she could sworn that she head a small giggle coming from the older girl. Frowning, she finally understood what had happened. Silently, as to no alert her, she bended down and scooped a handful of snow in her hand. Snow in hand she inched closer to the shaking girl and throw the snow down the brunettes back, insides her parka.

Hermione’s reaction was instant. The shaking stopped and she became rigid in surprise, turning to lay on her now cooling back. “Cold! Cold! Cold!” She chanted under her breath. It was not overly uncomfortable, but it did was cold enough for her to, well, freeze at the surprise.

Luna chose that moment to let another handful go insides the front of her friend’s clothes, making the older girl gasp again. She had noticed that the cold did not bothered Hermione much, so she felt no guilt of what she was doing. “You’re an ass.” She muttered.

The fifth year simply smiled, the cold now barely noticed. “Yeah, but I’m a cute ass.”

The blonde snorted. Yes, she was a cute ass. “Fine, Miss Cute-Ass, are we flying or not?”

The brunette stood up and helped Luna do the same, stealing a peck from the other girl’s lips. “Yeah.” Looking at the younger girl she blushed again. “Could you teach me?”

Luna smiled at both the kiss and the cuteness of her friend. “Of course I will.” After all, the broom would not been hitting _her_.

 

# Chapter Fourteen – Going Back

“Robes?”

“Yes.”

“Potion kit?”

“Yes.”

“Quills?”

“Yes.”

“Owl?”

“Yes.”

“Underwear?”

“Really? Yes.”

“Wand?”

“Ye- No.”

“Ha, I told you you’d forget something.” The older woman cheered.

Hermione sighed. “Yes, Mama.” It was the very first time she had forgotten something and her Mama was simply enjoying knowing she was right.

She was little sad that Christmas break was over. Over the three weeks that they had been away from school she had become used to have Luna and her Mama by her side, and although she would be living with the little blonde starting next term, she knew she would miss being with her Mama at nights, simply reading or discussing magic.

She would miss calling the older witch Mama too.

“Why would you forget your wand?” The Headmistress wondered out loud while closing the school trunk and shrinking it to put it her coat’s pocket.

Hermione shrugged as she gathered Argo. She had gotten so used to use wandless magic around the Manor that her wand had been pretty much forgotten in her room… but she was banned from using magic around the house so she was not going to inform her stern parent about that.

“Are you sure you want to take the Express? We can always apparate to Hogsmeade.”

The young brunette shook her head while fastening her wand holder at her arm. Another Christmas present she had received. “I promised Luna I’d sit with her… and I’m scared that someone would hurt her.”

After her Mama had allowed her to visit Luna the two witches had spent most days together, either at the Rook or at the Manor. They had done the blonde’s homework in less than three days, as the younger girl was highly intelligent, just not used to do any kind of assignments. The list Professor Lupin had given them via her mother had been quiet helpful and not very complicated, and had allowed them to do all the second year’s work rather fast. They were currently working on bringing up date the girl in her other work, but seeing as it was already too late to hand it in, they were not focusing too much on it.

They had also talked a lot. They had told each other secrets, fears, dreams. They had talked about what they wanted to do in the future and what were their very best memories from their pasts. They had talked about their parents: Luna about her dead mother and lovely father, Hermione about her Grandmama and her now Mama. The more they talked the better Luna expressed herself, and the better Hermione understood when the younger girl talked all ‘funny’. In some of their chats they had also talked about school, and the horrible things many students had done to the little Claw.

Physically the worst they had done to the girl was to force her to wear skinny clothes by stealing all her other ones and banned her from the Tower almost daily. While it had lifted a weight from her shoulders knowing they had not compromised the girl’s innocence or health in ways that cannot be mended, it had worried her enough to make her vow to do everything in her power to avoid any more harm to the one she considered her very best friend.

Minerva stopped all motion and looked at her daughter, knowing full well what kind of thoughts ran amok her head. She was glad when Hermione had chosen to confide in her what kind of things happened in Ravenclaw and in the second years’ classes, but sadly she could do nothing without proof and support from the girl’s Head of House. It was her hope, though, that the girl would now have a better time as she would no longer live in Ravenclaw Tower and would have Hermione as a friend and mentor. The girl was now an ex-Claw, so maybe in this new term she could do more for her.

“Let’s go, then.” The Headmistress finally said. “Or we’ll be late.”

“Yes, Mama.”

XxXxX

“Slow down, Moon Moon. We still have time.”

Luna huffed. Her Daddy was still confused thanks to several cups of Ozian Green Elixir he had consumed the night before, and they were running a little late. It was nowhere near to eleven, the train’s departure time, but it was already way past nine, the time she had agreed with Hermione to meet. “Daddy!” She whined. “A Nargle is waiting for me, please, hurry!”

The old man’s eyes bulged. “Why didn’t you said so?!” He said before practically picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, hurrying into the busy station.

The little blonde sighed. Leave it to the man to actually _run_ when he finally understood Hermione was waiting for her. Xenophilius had taken well to her relationship with the brunette, going so far as to invite the fifth year to live with them. Hermione was delighted, and a little confused, about that, but she had declined, claiming she wanted to spend time with her new mother and making her Daddy pout for days afterwards.

“Now, Moon Moon, remember to wash your left foot and to throw salt behind your right shoulder every other night.” Her father said once they had reached the Express, but before he had put her down.

“Yes, Daddy.” She looked around from her high spot and saw many familiar faces. It was still early enough that there were not many children around, but the ones there were already whispering about her and making pranking plans. Especially those from her House.

‘ _Former House.’_ A voice that sounded too much like Hermione remained her. One day Minerva had explained both the girls why Luna’s robes and tie had not changed colors. While it was uncommon for it to happen, in Hogwarts’ history there had been times where a student was not welcome in their house. It was not that the girl, or boy, had not been properly sorted, but that the student was no compatible with the people and beliefs that lived in the house at the moment.

Almost always the student got accepted after a period of time, but seeing as Luna was teased and bullied within her House, it made better sense to simply remove her from a place the three witches knew she did not belong. She knew the Headmistress had planned on letting her have her own quarters, very similar to Hermione’s, but the brunette witch had offered to share with her and she was more than happy to do so.

“Hello, Mister Lovegood.” A sweet voice called from the entrance of Platform 93/4 and made Luna smile.

“Oh, hello, Miss Nargle!” The loud voice of the older man echoed in the somewhat busy station as he let his little girl down.

“Hello, Miss Lovegood.” The brunette bowed to the younger girl.

The blonde giggled, she liked when Hermione was all gentleman-y. She curtsied. “Hello, Miss Granger. Sorry we are late.”

The other girl beamed at her, her smile so bright that the younger witch wondered why they bothered to have a sun. “Not Granger anymore, Miss Lovegood. And I just got here myself.”

Luna beamed too, but knew better than to approach such personal matters in such public place. Instead she turned to her father and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, Daddy. Thank you for bringing me to the Nargle and to keep me from the Wrackspurts.” She was no longer a Wrackspurt, oh no, she was now something better, something more amazing. She had her Neenie after all.

Mister Lovegood simply smiled, truly happy that his little girl finally had someone she could be true with. “I love you, too, Moon Moon. Have a nice term.” He kissed softly the top of blonde mop. He turned to the older witch. “You, too, Hermione, have a nice time.”

The brunette hugged the tall man. “Thank you, sir. Please give my regards to the fairies at the Rook.”

The man smiled, impressed by this young woman that was so at ease with the little quirks their family had. “I will.” He return the embrace. “Take care of my little one.” He whispered in her ear.

She stepped away from the hug, her face now somber. “I promise.”

“And I thank you.” The man bowed and kissed his daughter one last time before leaving the two witches to themselves.

Luna and Hermione shared a look. “Come on, Luna, let’s find our compartment.”

“Are we sharing?” She asked as they gathered their things to climb into the mostly empty Express.

Hermione raised an eyebrow as they boarded. “Do you want to?”

The blonde hung her head, not sure if she was confident enough to voice her fears. She had been in seventh heaven with Hermione at her side for most of their holidays after Christmas and she had gotten used to be just them, with only Minerva and her Daddy around. She was not naïve enough to consider that the brunette would be only hers while in school. The older girl had friends and she was a Prefect, so her involvement within the school body was way bigger than hers and she knew that the older witch’s time would not be sorely focused on her any longer.

Sharing their train compartment would then just be the first step to get used to sharing her Neenie.

“Luna, look at me.” Hermione said as they reached the last compartment of the last cart. The younger girl did as told and was amazed at the emotion she saw in the older girl’s bronze eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Little Moon.” She briefly closed her eyes as the taller girl pecked her on the lips.

Luna’s heart warmed at the knowledge that the brunette knew exactly what was bothering her. “I’d like to have the compartment for ourselves, please.”

Opening the door for what would be their place for the next several hours Hermione simply smiled. “Then it’ll be just ours.”

They settled their trunks in the compartment and Hermione took out a warm blanket from the deeps of her always trusted satchel and a pair of pillows. “C’mere.” She commanded softly and Luna promptly cuddled at her right, practically laying half on top the other girl’s torso, leaving Hermione free to settle against both the seat’s back and the window.

The blonde sighed in contentment when two long arms cradled her and the soft fabric of her favorite blanket covered them both magically. “I love you can do wandless magic.” She murmured.

The brunette chuckled. “I love that I could come back.”

Luna smiled. “So do I, Miss McGonagall.”

“Oh, Merlin!” The older girl laughed merrily. “The papers finally came back yesterday night. I’m officially a McGonagall.”

“Are you telling the school?” The little girl asked excited.

“Nah, let them figure it out the first time a Professor takes roll call.” She smirked like the Cheshire Cat. “I wonder which Professor would be.”

“I hope it’s Snape.”

“Nah, it’ll be funnier if it was someone more impressionable like Flitwick or Sprout.”

“What about Lupin?”

Hermione chuckled. “Nope, I reckon Mama has already told him and Professor Greenwood.”

“What?” Luna sat fully to look at the older girl in wonder. “Why?”

“C’mere, you’re cold.” The brunette muttered and tugged the smaller girl to her, placing her in the same position she had been before. Once she had the girl in a position both were comfortable in, she answered her questions. “Mama invited over both Professors once or twice last week. They saw me there, when I asked permission to go over your house. I guess she’d already told them because they weren’t as surprised to see me as I was to see them.”

“Why were they at the Manor?”

“I guess Mama has friends after all.”

The other girl hummed. “Are you telling Potter?”

“Nah.” The brunette scoffed. “He didn’t write once, and he didn’t care for me at all. I may like him, but he’s an ass.”

The blonde frowned at the pang she felt on her heart when she heard that the older girl liked the famous Harry Potter. She knew it was a mere fraternal love, but it still hurt. “But he did go to ask me.”

“Yes, about five days _after_ I was taken, no?”

“More or less.”

“See my point?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

 

# Chapter Fifteen – Dumb Snakes

“What are you doing here?”

The cold voice made him rise from the comfortable armchair he had been sitting, waiting for the lady of the house. “But dear cousin,” He said with a smile. “Why such a long face?”

Narcissa glared at her most cheery cousin, a twinkle of amusement held behind her blue eyes. “You got Lucius in jail and you dare to ask that?!”

Sirius sobered up immediately, playing along with his beloved relative. “He got himself in jail, cousin. He was the one there with Voldy, attacking people left and right with his little wand and shrilly voice, so unlike his honorable son.” That was the main reason he had waited until Hogwarts started to come talk to his cousin. Draco would surely get in the way as he always demanded for the Auror to chat with him or play chess. The Slytherin boy was really grateful he had sent his father to jail and the Black Heir had become his favorite role model.

The blonde smirked. She had never liked the way her husband acted, nor did she support his way of living. Sure, she was against blood mixing, but only because she knew that as more dilated the blood became the wizarding traditions and customs were more ignored and laughed at. Also, the magic within the blood became weaker as the blood was contaminated, prompting to much more cases of squibbing. She knew in her heart, though, that with her husband gone she would accept any female companion his son wanted, no matter her blood status.

“What do you want, Sirius?” She finally relaxed her act. She was glad the man had come to see her as he had been too busy catching Death Eaters to stop by and have tea.

The Auror sat again and Narcissa followed. “I went to Mother’s house and came across the Family Tapestry.” He started, knowing full well Narcissa’s good mood was prone to vanish as suddenly as it had appeared, she could get bored quiet easily. “I came across two names I didn’t know they were there.”

The woman nodded. She can imagine where her cousin was heading and a not former in her stomach. “And those names were?”

“Tom M. Riddle and Capella M. Black.”

“And the two are related to Bella, I presume?”

It was Sirius turn to nod. “Apparently Bellatrix married Voldemort and had a daughter with him.”

The witch flinched at the use of the name she hated the most, but other than that, her pose was one of perfect control. “She did. Have a daughter with him, that’s it.”

The Black heir frowned. “How?”

Narcissa chuckled humorlessly, her playful demeanor gone completely. “You really don’t believe I’ll teach you the ways of baby making, do you?”

“I didn’t mean that, and you know it. Bellatrix was married to Rodolphus.”

“I know. She was simply chosen by the Dark Lord as his Lady.” Narcissa sighed and looked at him in the eye, what he saw there chilled him to the bones. “What I’ll tell you haven’t left this house in more than ten years… I would appreciate the upmost discretion.”

Sirius nodded, knowing full well that this tale he wouldn’t like.

XxXxX

“What’s she doing here?”

Hermione sighed at the stupid redheaded. “She’s sitting, Ronald, just like you are.”

The boy sneered. “I meant, why is she sitting here?”

The brunette looked at her Mama sitting at the Professor’s table, waiting for the Great Hall to be filled. The older witch looked back at her and nodded almost imperceptibly. Minerva had told them that as Luna was Houseless she was free to sit wherever she wanted to, and obviously the blonde had chosen her best friend’s house table.

“She’s waiting for the feast to start.”

As the redheaded boy reddened his face Ginny scowled at them. “Why isn’t she sitting with her house? We don’t want Loony here, she’s crazy!”

A boy in Slytherin knocked his empty cup in the table and it did not clang, just as a girl in Hufflepuff laughed out loud only for her mouth to come with no sound. It took only a second, but all the people in the Great Hall could feel how the temperature dropped immediately and how all sound was muted. The air had suddenly become heavy and moist, and incredibly cold. For a moment the students from second grade up wondered if there were Dementors in the school, only to notice a growling Gryffindor fifth year who was practically surrounded by soft blue light.

“Don’t. Call. Her. That.” Her voice echoed in the room and the students and staff that had not noticed the girl were suddenly drawn to her.

Many simply blinked in confusion, some tried to whisper animatedly to have no sound leave their mouths, and others, the youngest, had their faces lighted with excitement at having the great Morgen doing any kind of mystical magic. The Professors, all of them already seated looked with both confusion and horror, while the Headmistress rose and tried to hurry to her daughter’s side.

Ginny, for her part, just sat stunned, her eyes wide open and her mouth crying a silent scream of utter fear. She was seated across the older witch and could easily see, just as the Cubs sitting near, much more than the people in other tables. Hermione not only got her blue aura around that looked pretty much as cold as her eyes. Eyes that were not longer the deep brown everybody knew, but that were a dead blue, pretty much black, with specks of bronze.

Ron and Harry, siting at either side of the fourth year redheaded, could not do more than stare at their brunette friend. They both had seen Hermione like that before once, the night Voldemort fell. Both boys were conscious that it had not been normal, it had not been right, but with the euphoria of having defeated the old bastard have all but forgotten about it.

It was shortly before Ron had passed out, but Harry knew the older girl only got scarier after that. The girl’s hair had gotten longer, almost to her feet, and her eyes really lost all of the bronze and most of the white. The sparkling blue that surrounded her had frozen the air around Little Hangleton’s graveyard simply because the old wizard had called Hermione the name she was now referred as by most of the wizarding community: Morgen.

“Neenie?” A small whisper was heard in the ever silent Hall, making Minerva halt just feet from the brunette.

Luna’s hand came to rest on the older witch’s fist, which was currently clenching her fork, atop the table.

The fifth year Prefect took a deep breath and let it go slowly, letting her hands relax. With her eyes closed she turned the hand under Luna’s upward and interlaced their fingers, gently squeezing her thanks. The blue aura was soon evaporated and the sound returned, just as the warm feeling that was always around the Great Hall.

Opening her eyes they could easily see that they were back to normal, but the anger behind them was still there, just not as intense as it had been before.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to lose control.” It was barely muttered, but the people sitting by heard it perfectly.

“It’s okay.” Harry said easily. He could understand that Hermione got angry at how insensible the Weasleys were being.

“Hermione?” The stern voice of her mother made the young witch wince.

Turning to the oldest witch she kept her face blank. “Yes, Headmistress?”

“Are you alright, child?” The last word made Hermione smile, as she could clearly hear the meaning behind the words: ‘ _Are you alright, baby?’_

“Yes, Ma’am.” _‘Yes, Mama.’_

The stern witch nodded and left to her place in the middle of the High Table, ready to start the term’s welcoming feast.

It was not the best feast they had had so far as most students were still stealing glances to the scary brunette, and though the food was amazing like always, the sense of dread that everybody could feel simply dimmed the taste and smell of the mouthwatering food.

XxXxX

“Granger?”

The Gryffindor turned around towards the voice; her hand instinctively gripped her wand in preparation. When she saw who was talking to her, she relaxed. “Malfoy.”

The blond, lean boy eyed how Hermione’s hand was holding her wand tightly and he wondered what would have happened to him if the girl had attacked before looking who had called her. “Or should I call you McGonagall?”

Hermione smirked. “Not yet.”

“Fine. Can I have a word?”

The older witch blinked at that. That was a new one. Usually her interactions with Draco were limited to their weekly owl letters and late night chats, they both knew the boy could put himself in danger if some of his housemates noticed that they actually talked to each other. Looking down the hallway she noticed with little surprise that there was no one in sight. She had sent Luna up their quarters ahead of her as she had wanted to visit the library for a book she was sure both of them would enjoy reading before bed that week. “Only if you drop the last name crap.” She smirked.

Draco snorted. “Hermy, Hermy, who would have thought such a vulgar word coming from your mouth?”

“Don’t call me that, _Coco._ ” She emphasized the name with a lazy drawl.

The Slytherin simply sneered at the name he hated, still wondering where it came from. “What are you doing with Loony Lovegood?” He asked directly what was on his mind knowing their time was limited and that they could spend the night teasing each other if it were not for it.

“Don’t call her that!” Hermione bristled at the hated nickname, an icy wind pushing Draco a few paces back.

The wizard simply raised his hands in front his chest in surrender. And angry Hermione was prone to throw hexes and punches… he knew that fact too well. “Alright, alight! Don’t call Miss Lovegood names, got it.”

The brunette sighed. “Sorry I snapped… I just hate how they call her.”

The blond nodded. “It’s okay,” He shrugged. “Just force of habit, I guess.” He eyed her with caution. “What are you doing with her?”

Hermione chewed her bottom lip. “She gets me in a way nobody else had done. She’s smart, funny and really powerful… I was drawn to her, as I was draw to you.”

The boy scoffed. “If you remember correctly _I_ was the one who seek you and ask for forgiveness, Mia.”

“And _I_ was the one to have the guts to actually start talking and spending time together.” That had been a strange time for them. After she had punched Draco at the end of their third year the boy had gotten his act together. Shortly after she had been dumped by both Harry and Ron the Slytherin Prince had come to her and apologized by the way he had acted since they had arrived at Hogwarts. Neither knew what had prompted the witch to listen to his apology and his reasons to be a jerk, but after a conversation that lasted hours in the Astronomy Tower they had come to an understanding. After that they admitted they did not hate each other, but for their own safety they would keep arguing and fighting in front the whole school.

It had been then Hermione that had started writing to him, asking to meet her in between classes or after curfew. Little by little they had managed to build a friendship so different from the one she had shared with Ron or Harry. It helped that now both of them were Prefects and had the excuse of their common rounds to meet more frequently, even if they could not talk freely.

The boy nodded, what the brunette had say was true enough. She indeed had been the one to start building their relationship. Maybe Luna Lovegood was a lost case as he had been? “Are you sure about her? Is she safe?”

“She’s my best _female_ friend, Draco. She’s as safe as it gets.” She shook her head amused, loving the way Draco needed little to be comforted yet how he actually _listened_. She dreaded having this same conversation with Ron.

The boy nodded. “And I guess Potter is your best _male_ friend?” The light hurt in his voice did not go unnoticed by her.

“Did you know snakes are really, really dumb?” She asked with a loving smile at the way the Slytherin pouted. “Harry is like my annoying, yet lovable little brother, one I’d sometimes like to strangle and sometimes like to cuddle. _You_ dumb snake, are, on the other hand, my very best _male_ friend.” And she was no lying. The boy had been the only one to write her as soon as she had been taken by the A.C.D. to inquire about her safeness. He had been the only one to know her parents were gone before the Ministry did, he had been the one to hold her when her fights with Ron and Harry had gotten too much to her, he had been the one who confided in her about Lucius’ abuse on both his mother and him. He had been the one that had been there for her. It was a secret relationship, but she knew that the blond would forever get her back if it was needed and she was ready to give her life for him if his was in danger. They may not interact that much, going so far as to not talk for weeks, but they both knew the other would forever be around.

Draco blushed. He was still not used at having any kind of comfort from another other than his mother, so it was nice to have a female friend that actually liked him. “Blood is thicker than any friendship, though.” He could not help but argue back.

Hermione only snorted and start walking away. They had been together for far too much time and it would not be long before someone walk on them, besides her female best friend was waiting. “Then is a blessing none of us are really related, no Drake?”

The blonde wizard just let her go, he knew too that they were risking too much by talking in an open hallway, yet he could not stop himself from thinking. _‘I wouldn’t mind being related to you.’_

# Chapter Sixteen – Living Alone

“The room is a little bare, but I’m sure we can ask Sniffles to do something like she did to mine.” Hermione said from their space in the middle of the bedroom. The walls were white and the bed was bare. The floor was the stony one of most of the school had.

“Sniffles did your room?” Luna asked as she opened her trunk to take out her pajamas.

“Uh, uh. Mama asked her to do my room as the one in the Manor. Do you want me to call her?”

Luna looked at her friend. “Can I stay with you, and ask Sniffles tomorrow?” Some steam left her mouth as she talked.

Hermione hummed. Luna had spent a couple of nights at the Manor and she had spent one over at the Rook. Those nights, coupled with the first nights they had met, had her discover that she truly slept better with the small blonde at her side. “Please, do. It’s a cold night.” She commented as response to the visible breath that came out every time they spoke.

The younger witch looked at her with a blank face. “Really?” It was no secret that Luna was the coldest people to be alive. Her hands and feet were always icy and her small size was meant to be warmed, not to warm another. She was always cold and liked to wear sweaters around her house even on summers. That made the Ravenclaw’s pranks all the more cruel. Stealing her clothes and leaving her on the freezing castle was just mean.

The brunette shrugged. “I was thinking of you. I asked Mama the coldest rooms in the castle.” She frowned. “We can ask her if we could move, though, if they’re too cold for you.”

Hermione on the other hand was always warm and got hot easily, preferring to wear as fewer clothes as possible, even in winter. She tended to cover herself with blankets as to easily uncover herself through the night. Sure she got cold as any sane person, but she always was comfortable with just her robe or a thin sweater on. She was one to warm others, and she had confided in Luna that she liked to sleep alone because she could not even sleep with Crookshanks without becoming superheated. Luna, of course, was the only exemption.

The blonde smiled at her friend. “I think the rooms are just perfect. And I like sleeping with you, you are cuddly and warm.”

She received a smile in return. “And I you.”

“Can we have hot chocolate?”

She was not surprised at the request as Luna had been asking her to drink it almost every time they got together. It had been a shock to the younger girl realizing that the chocolate she made was water based, rather than milk based, as she was used to, and that the chocolate she used was no powdered but more bar like. It was the way Hermione liked it as it was less sweet and Luna had come to love it since the first time she drank it. “Yes, Little Moon, we can.”

“Can I have mine just barely hot?”

The brunette snorted and turned to leave the room she was sure Luna would never sleep in. The blonde had burn her tongue more than once since that first night, no matter how cool she made the chocolate… somehow Luna simply hurt herself with it. “I’ll make it cold then.”

“No!” The blonde jumped to her back and hung on the taller girl for dear life. “I want it hot… just not that hot.”

Hermione grunted as her arms came behind her to support the little girl by her bottom, allowing her to have a free piggy back ride to the small kitchenette their rooms have. “Maybe I shouldn’t feed you anymore chocolate, you’re getting heavy.”

The younger girl gasped. “You just didn’t say that.”

“What? That you’re getting fat? I did.” She said as she stopped in the middle the sitting room, just between the doors to the blonde’s bedroom and bathroom, peeking over her shoulder to see an indignant blonde. She loved carrying the girl around, but always with a featherlight charm on. She was indeed heavy.

The second year gasped again and leaned forward so her mouth was even with the older witch’s ear. “Then I’ll have to make you eat your words.” She whispered in it.

The brunette shivered at the warm air at her side. “Yes? How do y- argh!” She was interrupted when a wet tongue was suddenly licking inside her ear. “Luna, gross!”

The melodious laugher of her friend was halted by the amused voice that echoed from their sitting room. “Am I interrupting something?”

The girls looked at the older witch sitting comfortably in the armchair in front of a going fire. The woman was curled comfortably with one of the books Luna had learnt were Muggle fiction stories. Luna let herself drop form her perch on Hermione and both girls blushed. “Hello, Ma’am.” She said softly.

“Hello, Luna.” She nodded and smiled at the little blonde and her daughter. “Hello, Neenie.”

“Hello, Mama.” Hermione simply sighed, now truly resigned about the embarrassing nickname. Both Luna and her mother called her that, and, by a stupid turn of fate, all the house elves in Hogwarts called her that thanks to Sniffles… and the house elves were a little too enthusiastic when it came to make her happy in the castle, even if there were other people around. It would not be long before the rest of the school knew about it, she believed.

Luna sat in the loveseat, the farthest from the Headmistress, leaving the fifth year to sit in between them. “Would you like some chocolate, Ma’am?” She asked innocently.

The recently seated brunette just grunted in acknowledge and got up again, heading to the kitchenette. “Do you want some, Mama?”

The Headmistress chuckled, truly amused at how whipped her daughter was. “Yes, please, Neenie.”

“Two chocolates, center of the sun hot, coming up, then.”

The blonde blinked confused before storming to follow Hermione. “Hey! What about mine?!”

This time Minerva actually laughed.

XxXxX

“Wake up, Neenie. Two.”

Hermione groaned and turned face down. “Not you too.” She muttered.

Luna laughed from besides her and slapped the older girl’s ass. “Your mother gave me permission to do everything in my power to get you up on time.”

The brunette jumped from the blow. It was just her luck that the two most important people in her life were so _cheery_ when it came to make her miserable. “I always get up on time.” She groaned, truly pained at thinking on actually functioning this early.

“Maybe,” The younger conceded. “But it’s fun to wake you up.”

“How long before breakfast is served?” She burrowed in the covers, knowing that a rested Luna was prone to raise with the sun… just another contrast between them that made their friendship work.

“Two hours.” She hummed, not telling the girl that it was only Sunday and that they were not really needed until later. They could even reemerge until noon!

“What?!” The fifth year bolted up, sitting herself to face the younger witch. “Why would you wake me at five?!”

“The sky is awake, and so I am.” And it was fun to see an annoyed Neenie.

The brunette sighed and took a sip from the bottle at her bedside table, the same bottle that Luna had seen in both her room at the school and at the Manor before letting herself fall to the bed again, settling in her stomach. “It’s not seven, so _I_ am not.” Then she frowned looking at the plain dark sky at the other side of her window. “And the sky isn’t either.”

Luna let herself drop a top the other girl’s back, prompting another grunt form her. “I want to see when the sky is awake at least once.”

Hermione sighed, already half asleep. “I promise I’ll take you see the northern lights someday.” She rolled so she could wrap her arms around the younger girl, who had fallen from her at the movement. Squeezing her to her chest she kissed the top of her blonde hair. “Go back to sleep.” She pleaded.

Luna simply smiled and cuddled back into the older girl’s arms, one hand came to rest at the fifth year’s breast and other found its way to her mouth. “Go’night.”

Hermione didn’t answer. She was already fast asleep.

XxXxX

“I don’t like it, mate.”

Harry groaned. He had been listening to the boy’s rant for over an hour now, and he was getting frustrated. He could relate to Hermione, Ron was simply stupid most of the time.

The Red Trio, as they were referred now Harry, Ron and Ginny, mostly because Golden was already in use and two of this new trio were redheaded, were seated in front the fireplace of Gryffindor Common Room, surrounded by the warmth only a nice fire and good company provided. For the most part.

They had just returned from breakfast, after waiting for the usually early riser Hermione to accompany them for almost half an hour before deciding that the girl was not coming anytime soon. The brunette was usually the first up and the last to bed, so none of them really knew exactly at what time the girl went and came from her dorm. They were still waiting for her to come down the stairs as they needed some last minute help with their holiday’s homework.

“She’s been avoiding us all since the weekend before vacations, and she’s been spending her time with Loony. She didn’t even send gifts at Christmas!”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t remember, she was taken to the Ministry as soon as she got off the train. She couldn’t have sent gifts.”

Ron dismissed him with a firm wave of his hand. “That doesn’t matter, mate. She’s been acting odd.”

“Yeah, she’s been acting weird since you won the Tournament, but lately, she’s just plain strange.” Ginny nodded her head. She had been beyond furious at the older Gryffindor since she had scared her in the Great Hall the night before.

Harry frowned. “She’d been acting that way because we killed Voldemort.”

Ron snorted. “I was there, mate, you were there. We aren’t acting any different, are we?”

The black haired boy frown deepened. He had spent most of the holidays thinking on his smarter friend. Hermione had changed, yes, but so had them. Ron was more confident than ever, but he was also extremely cruel to the people he considered beneath them, which amounted to just everyone, really, especially the younger years. The redheaded had gotten bigger in his head and it was sometimes hard to be with him without feeling revolted. It was a true blessing he was no Prefect.

Harry himself had changed. The boy was no longer awkward in large crowds and he was no longer trying to go unnoticed by everybody. He also found himself noticing little things her had not noticed before, like the haunted eyes that many of his classmates from Slytherin had, or the tensed shoulders of the people when he was around. He also noticed something just cold behind Hermione’s eyes every time he looked at her.

“We’ve changed, Ron.” He said somberly. “Killing Voldemort changed the three of us, mate, just not ‘Mione.”

The redheaded boy was about to counter his friend when a sleepy eyed Lavender Brown came down the stairs leading to the girls’ dorm. “Hey, Lavender!” He said instead. “Is Hermione still asleep?”

The girl looked at him with a confused face and actually blinked several times, trying to clear her head. Did the boy have actually asked what she thought he had asked? She was saved from answering when an equally sleepy Parvati appeared besides her as Ron got restless and asked the tanner girl the same question.

“Are you talking about Hermione? _The_ Hermione Granger, right?” Parvati asked with the same look of bewilderment as Lavender.

Ginny frowned as Ron blinked stupidly. “There is no other Hermione.” She said just a little snobbishly. Well, a lot snobbishly.

Lavender and Parvati exchanged a quick glance. “We thought you knew.” The blonde said.

“Knew what?” Ron asked confused.

“That Hermione stopped sharing with us after fourth year started.” Parviti easily said.

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked them just as confused as her brother.

Both girls sighed. “Just that,” Lavender said exasperated. “The last weekend of November her things were gone.”

“We thought for a moment that she was expelled, or something worse,” Parvati continued. “But we saw her on class on Monday, so we knew it was not the case.”

Lavender shrugged. “Apparently, McGonagall had offered her her own rooms because she is the highest score in the whole house since third year, but she had been declining that right for months.”

“But,” Parvati frowned at them. “After the two of you practically tore her to shreds because that stupid Tournament she accepted and moved out as soon as possible.”

Ron scoffed. “That can’t be right. Hermione’d tell us if that was the case, besides, we see her every day, she’s always aroun’.”

Lavender sighed again. No wonder Hermione stopped hanging out with this lot, they were dumber than Crabbe and Goyle, _together_. “When was the last time you’d seen her doing her homework here? Or simply hanging at the Common Room?”

The trio seated stared at the fire, trying to remember. Hermione was usually at the library, and they had to go look for her there if they wanted help with their homework. They always saw her down at the Great Hall for meals, but they never walk with her there. Ron and Harry remembered how Hermione would practically steal a table for her own use at the Common Room up to third year, but after they got mad at the girl for her usual concern over stupid things, especially over Harry that was going to compete at the Triwizard’s Tournament, they had stopped seeing her. They both had thought the girl was avoiding them and they were happy for her to do so, and they just simply did not question it when Hermione chose to keep doing her work at the library after they had forgiven her.

“I can’t remember when that was.” Harry whispered brokenly. Had he really been such a horrible friend for the brunette? Had he been blind not to notice the girl’s absence?

“That’s because she’s been living alone since then. She has her own rooms to do as she pleases.” Parvati told them quietly. She knew because her sister, Padma, was the best student over at Ravenclaw and her twin was offered the same living arrangements by Professor Flitwick. Parvati had been green with envy for several weeks until her sister had invited her and Lavender over. That was now the place that the girls hung out with the Claw and her friends. It was quieter than a Common Room and allowed them to do practically anything they wanted. It was even decorated to Padma’s tastes!

“Why would she like to live alone?” Ron asked confused. It was just something foreign for a boy who had grown up with several people around at all times. “That’s too lonely.”

Lavender groaned. It was not even nine and she was already asked to have an actual conversation. “Vati and I like her enough, but we know she doesn’t fit with us. We liked to talk until late at night and she got annoyed easily with that, so, even though we _do_ like her, we understand she likes to be by herself, in a quiet place, with nobody bothering her.”

“But why?”

Parvati shrugged. “Maybe is a Muggle thing.” Both she and Lavender were pureblood, and both were raised in a magical home with people coming and going all the time, so maybe it was a Muggle thing.

Lavender echoed her friend’s shrug. “Or maybe it’s a Hermione thing. Either way, she won’t be coming down that stairs anytime soon.” She looked at the seated trio. “Now, if you excuse us, we’d like to eat before breakfast is over.” She marched to the Tower entrance and the tanned girl followed her.

“We’ll tell Hermione you are looking for her if we see her.” Parvati called to them as the two witches disappeared from view.


	6. Chapter 6

# Chapter Seventeen – New Name

Sirius sat at his desk, even though it was Monday and the sun had yet hours to set, he needed time to think and this was the best place he knew to do so. The Auror department was empty save a couple of unlucky souls that had been assigned the early morning watch.

But that was fine by him. He needed to understand what had happened at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa had been inconsolable for hours after she had told him her tale and he had confided what he knew to her. The usually composed woman had cried like never before and it had taken any doubt out of him about the veracity of the tale, a tale so impossible that it had to be true.

They needed to investigate what had happened, to find out exactly were their stories diverged. They needed to be discrete, yes, but they could not hope to fish for answers without actually telling people about their secret.

The name Narcissa had told him, though, was a name he had heard before, he was sure of it, but he just could not really say where. It was uncommon enough but at the same time well known. Maybe he was just imagining things, though.

“Oh, Merlin,” He groaned. “What a mess.”

A soft thud at the window got his attention. It was a brown owl, tapping at the panel to be let inside. He smiled as he recognized Romulo, Remus’ owl. Getting up he let the owl in and took the letter from its leg. He was about to start reading when a sudden thought crossed his mind.

‘ _Maybe Minerva would let me investigate.’_

The man smiled, it was as good plan as any.

XxXxX

“I really wish we could sleep all day long.”

“I wish it too, but we want to graduate, right?”

She whined. “I still have more than five years to go!”

Hermione murmured absentminded as she fixed her tie before the mirror. “Six years fly by.”

Luna glared at her. “No, they don’t.”

The brunette met the younger girl’s eyes on the mirror’s reflection, seeing the barely suppressed anger behind them. The little blonde was sitting in her bed, hair tussled and only wearing her school blouse and a pair of panties. She sighed and turned to her partially done tie, finishing it and letting her eyes roam over herself, looking for any sign of wrinkles in her perfectly done uniform. “No, Luna, they don’t.” The older witch turned to the girl, whose blue orbs were now looking down, a sad frown marring her face. Sitting besides her she patted the wild hair and kissed her softly on the temple. “Come on, love, let’s get you dressed.”

Letting herself being tugged, Luna was on her feet instantly. She stood still as Hermione undo her blouse as it had been buttoned up wrong. She saw how the delicate hands of her friend did button by button, making sure the blouse got unwrinkled in the process with her wandless magic. She was left alone for a second when Hermione went to fetch her skirt and socks, her normal, grey ones. Using the older girl’s shoulder to balance herself she lifted on leg, then the other, as the brunette placed the skirt in place. The other witch made the series of buttons at its side, ensuring that the blouse was properly tucked in its waistband and without noticing it Luna’s thumb easily found its way to her mouth. “I’m soddy I go’ ma’.” She mumbled, tears gathering in her eyes.

Hermione rose from the place she had been crouching at her side. She silently hugged the girl to her chest, kissing her softly at the top of her head. “I’m sorry too, love.”

Deciding that Luna’s sucking would interfere with the rest of her dressing process, the brunette simply got the girl seated in her dressing table and, taking her heavy wooden brush, started combing the silky flaxen strands that she loved. She stayed quiet, not looking at her friend’s reflex on the mirror and promptly ignoring the falling tears and the sniffling sounds she made.

She knew full well what had gotten the girl so upset as she also knew that there was nothing she could tell her to make her feel better. Six years. Six years today, since Selene Lovegood had died. January the eight was simply not a good day to sadden her little friend, as it was the date her mother had had her potion accident.

Hermione had talked without thinking; the girl was simply trying to distract herself of the date with her whining. Luna had been acting strange since they had woken up about an hour ago and it had taken her two minutes to remember what Mister Lovegood had told her once over the holiday. Somehow they had been left alone in the kitchen at the Rook, and he had made small talk with her, a strange chat that had finished with his revelation of Selene’s death.

The fifth year was good with dates, and she had known since Luna’s father told her about the accident that the first day of school would be a rough one. It would be the first day they would need to stay apart for most of the day and it was also the anniversary of Selene Lovegood’s death, so it was no surprise when Luna had woken as restless as a small kid on edge of a big tantrum.

The blonde had refused to take a bath to start the day. She had refused to let the older girl off the bed for almost half an hour, making them a little too late. She had started whining when asked to dress herself _properly_ as she had chosen to wear pink mismatched socks, the black skirt that was only worn on special school functions, a short sleeved blouse, opposed the required long sleeved one for winter, and a purple bow tie, wherever she got that from. The brunette actually had to scold her for ten minutes before she undressed herself and made a half-hearted attempt to dress herself properly.

Luna’s lengthy hair made for a long task, but both witches relished on the soothing action as the older girl gently untangled and braided the hair in a low bun. Once the bun was done Hermione let her hands rest on the seated one’s shoulders. “Done.” She gently squeezed her. “Let me get you dressed, love.”

The blonde nodded and rose. “’orry.” She mumbled before letting her thumb fall from her mouth.  

Hermione stood before her and cupped her chin, as she had done every time the girl had burnt her tongue. “Never again, Luna, apologize for feeling.” She smiled softly.

“But…”

“I’ve told you that I’d never got mad for something that makes you happy… or at least makes you less sad, okay?” She said as she embraced the girl again, knowing full well that she was trying to apologize for the sucking.

Luna sniffled and melted onto the hug. “I’m being a brat.”

Hermione chuckled softly. “You are always a brat, darling. And I love you because of it.”

The blonde laughed quietly. Stepping a little from the lose hug she smiled at her friend. “Thank you.”

The brunette returned the smile and swiftly pecked her friend on the lips. “You are very welcome.” Pecking her again before she let her go, she smiled softly. “Come on, we have less than an hour to have breakfast and get you to class.”

“Yes, Neenie.”

XxXxX

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.”

“We didn’t see you at breakfast.”

“Uh. I got up later than usual.”

Harry’s eyebrow rose at that, knowing full well that Hermione was the last person to be late just because she slept in. “Are you okay?”

Hermione smiled. She was not, but the boy did not need to know that. “Yes, I am. Thank you for asking.”

The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice winced. He knew their relationship had gotten to the point where they were little more than acquaintances, but he had hoped that could change, especially after Hermione had told him she liked him, just as he liked her, like the sister he knew would always be there. He wished for them to be friends, real friends, again, because as much as they liked each other, he needed her near and it had taken him little more than a year to finally acknowledge that fact.

“Mione,” He started softly. “Can we hang out later?”

The brunette looked at him confused. Since when Harry wanted to spend time with her? “Sure?” She asked hesitantly.

“I-” He was interrupted when Ron came running through the door, just under a minute before the class was scheduled to start.

“Hey, mate!” The redheaded promptly sat in between them, rushing to take out his quills and parchment for class.

“Heya, Ron.” Harry muttered, just a tad annoyed that he had interrupted his time with Hermione.

The witch stared unimpressed at the mess the boy managed to do within a couple of seconds. “Good morning, Ronald.”

The boy paused a second, just enough to give a stare of his own to the girl. “Granger.”

Said girl scoffed. “Really? Are we back to last names?” She so wanted to tell him he was using the wrong, that that was not her last name and that he needed to use the right one if he was to start calling her that way. But, she also did not want to miss the chance to stun _everyone_ once Flitwick started the class in any second now.

“I don’t see how I could call you anything but since you decided to leave Gryffindor’s Tower without telling us.” He said sniffling.

Hermione smirked, truly amused that he thought his outrage would affect her. “And it took you, what, year and a half to notice that little fact?”

Ron was not allowed to show his anger as that was the moment the Charm’s Professor chose to enter the Parliament like classroom. “Good day, everyone.” The tiny man said cheerfully. “I hope everybody did their work and enjoyed the holidays!”

All around her the students greeted the man, but she stayed quiet. She hated the man with a passion she did not know she could actually have. Not only did the man have made her Luna suffer for almost two years, but the stupid man had not even defended the girl to stay in her House. He was so oblivious of everything that happened around him that it was sickening. Her Mama had even told her with a scowl on her aging face that the tiny Professor was actually _glad_ to be ridden of the little blonde.

“Brown, Lavender.”

“Here.”

The brunette could do nothing but wait patiently, to see if there was someone, anyone, that would notice that her name would be skipped right after Goyle and just before Daphne. Surely someone, be it Gryffindor or Slytherin would be intelligent enough to notice it, right? It damped her mood slightly that Draco already knew of her new name status, as it would be amazing to see his shocked face, but she was not comfortable keeping secrets from her blond male friend.

“Goyle, Gregory.”

“H-Here.”

“Greengrass, Dapne.”

“Here.”

Hermione looked around, it looked that nobody noticed it. Not even the Professor, though Draco did gave her a slight nod of his head. Well, she was kind of expecting that. But, was Harry looking at her at the corner of his eyes? She turned to him, surely enough, Harry had noticed.

“Malfoy, Draco.” She smiled at her raven haired friend.

“Here.” Harry frowned at her.

“McGonaga-” And there it was. The man had noticed. She saw with barely contented amusement as the tiny thing looked at his parchment and then looked at her, clear disbelief written in his face. She raised an eyebrow and he gulped. “McGonagall, Hermione.”

“Here.”

Later on she could have sworn that the breathing of the ghosts could be heard in the silence that that simple word had created. Her firm ‘here’ was all it took for the usually composed Charm’s instructor to actually sputter and fell back from his small pile of books and earn a quick trip to Madame Pomfrey. That word was all it took for the rest of the students to look at her like she had grown another head and several more limbs.

She simply smirked and let the temperature drop to match the stunned feeling the room was in. Oh, goody, this class would certainly be amusing enough. Maybe there was something wrong with her… she was enjoying this way too much.

XxXxX

By lunch time it was all over the castle. There was no student, Professor, portrait or ghost that did not know that Hermione Jean Granger was now Hermione Jean McGonagall. The brunette was having a really frustrating day after the amusement she had had over at Charms, the entertainment of having a new name was over.

Everybody wanted to know how in the world the old Headmistress had wanted to adopt a child that could possibly be the woman’s granddaughter. And while the students wondered how the smart girl would want to live with the unfeeling woman, the staff was wondering how they did not know about the girl’s situation and were not allowed to fight for her guardianship.

It was then an awkward time for the young witch when Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Vector had wanted to talk to her after their classes, which were in fact the only three classes she had before lunch. The three of them had asked her about her situation and if she was certain that Minerva would actually be the best fitted to be her new mother. It just angered Hermione to the point that she had almost yelled at the Arithmancy Professor to shove her opinions deep in her ass.

But she was Hermione McGonagall, so she was able to tame that impulse.

By dinner time she was both nauseous of all the crap that was being thrown at her and the constant questioning of the staff. Luckily for her, her afternoon classes were taught by Professors Lupin and Greenwood, so she at least had a little breath room and only had to hear the whispers and comments of her confused classmates and the ever following ghosts and gossiping portraits.

They all remembered the way the brunette had been escorted out the Platform by an A.C.D. employee last December, so they all knew she had not changed her name in a whim, but that she had actually been adopted by their Headmistress. The only question in everybody’s mouth then was why.

“She’s too intelligent for her parents to take care of her, that’s why.” Some would say.

“McGonagall simply wanted one of the Trio that defeated You-Know-Who, and she was the easiest to have.” Others would whisper.

“She surely begged the Headmistress for a better way of life.” Many believed that.

“The freak was just abandoned by her mud parents.” Pansy Parkinson liked to state. She shivered at how right she was. Many were shocked that that statement had not been ushered by Malfoy, as the boy was the most outspoken when it came to his hate for the brunette. She just smiled at their ignorance.

“Are Firetrots and Silvenfoos giving you a hard time?” Hermione smiled softly at Luna’s voice. She was currently sitting at the Gryffindor table, starting to make a plate of delicious dinner. That was the first meal they had at the Great Hall since the revelation of her name, both deciding that they could easily afford using the two hours of lunch to nap away the stress off their first day.

“I’ll live.” She answered as the former Claw sat beside her. She passed the plate to her friend, snorting at the face the girl made at the broccoli and carrots resting in it. “They are good for you. How were the Wrackspurts?”

The younger witch shrugged. “Nargles are nicer.” She took her cup of cool pumpkin juice. Tilting it towards the older girl she toasted: “To a new name.”

Hermione smiled and touched her own cup to the girl’s. “To a new life.”

She ignored the perplexed looks of their tablemates, they did not matter. The only ones that did were the lithe blonde drinking at her hearts content and the stern woman that overlooked them from her throne at the High Table.

 

# Chapter Eighteen – Nightmares

_They were there, she was sure of it._

_She could hear their laughter, their mocking. Their thirst of blood._

_There were around her, behind her, in front of her. They were everywhere. They were simply inside her._

_Blue and bronze was all she could see, though, there were simply no faces but there were voices, all of them. In a way she could recognize each one of them, but at the same time they were all jumbled together, making them unrecognizable. Making her know she was trapped._

_Her chest hurt, her legs hurt. She was running as far as she could, but there was nothing but blue and bronze, not matter how far she ran, how fast she ran, she was getting nowhere. And they were catching up on her._

_‘Luna.’_

_Her wings were suddenly open, letting her soar away, but there still were the laughs, the mocking, the hurt, the pain. She felt the stabs all around her, the tears in her feathers, the cuts on her limbs._

_There was just a small light, a small yellow light so different than any she had ever knew and she was felt as her heart soared, just as her wings were. She knew that light, she knew who was there. She smiled. She needed to reach the light, but she was not there, not now. Not then, not ever._

_‘Luna!’_

_She plummeted down, her wings no longer working. Where no floor had been there were suddenly broom sticks, all of them pointy and looking upwards, ready to lance her. Ready to pierce her flesh and impale her suddenly shrinking body. She closed her eyes and for a second she was soaring… then…_

_She kept falling, falling, falling…_

“Luna!”

The blonde girl sprang from bed, her breathing hard and her eyes wide in shock. Her body shook and her eyes filled with tears, scared beyond reason. Strong arms circled her and she flinched, not knowing where she was and who she was with. It took her just a second, though, to remember her Neenie and her surroundings. She leaned into the embraced and let her tears fall, a small sob accompanying them.

“It’s alright, love, it was just a bad dream.”

“I couldn’t reach you!” Luna cried in true pain. “They were there, laughing, and hurting me, but I couldn’t reach you!”

“Shh, honey. I’m here, I won’t ever leave them hurt you, I promise.” Hermione kissed the top of her head and keep cooing her reassurances. “I have you, Little Moon, don’t forget that.”

The brunette closed her eyes in pain for her friend. She was no stranger to nightmares as they were one of the only things she was truly scared of. There was nothing worse than being trapped in your own subconscious not knowing that what you are seeing could be something true or simply a deeply embedded fear, that in the end it was the same.

Shortly after her parents left she had started having night terrors. They were the worst she had ever had, not even her childhood nightmares could ever go close to them. Dreams of death, sorrow, pain, torture. Dreams of children being killed, women raped, cats skinned, men mutilated. Dreams that made her sick and caused her to cry for endless hours.

Parvati and Lavender knew of them, as she had woken up both girls on several occasions, with both her screaming and her heaving. At first they had been few and far in-between, those terrors making her scared to sleep for at least a couple of days afterwards. But the more time it passed, the more frequent they were and the worse they became.

By the time she had gotten her own room the dreams were at least weekly, but thankfully she did not needed to silence her bed to avoid disturbing Vati and Lav anymore. By the time the Tournament’s second task was over, her dreams had haunted her every other day and it had started showing on her grades. Minerva had been the only one to notice, though, she had confronted her and learned that the girl could not sleep more than a couple of hours some nights without submerging in a bad dream. After Voldemort was defeated they became a nightly occurrence and Hermione had been forced to start drinking Dreamless Tonics to sleep at last.

“Shh, Luna, love, I love you, I’m here.”

The blonde shook in her lap, quivering at the feelings her nightmare had made them feel. She curled into a small ball, her thumb reaching her mouth in an instant.

Hermione sighed. She knew too well the aftershocks of such dreams. She twisted so that she could face the other girl’s side of the bed and prompting a mewling sound from Luna she let the girl rest on it for a moment. The brunette reached the ever present bottle of Dreamless Tonic in her bedside table. Taking it she unclasped the cork and gently gathered the smaller girl’s upper body against her, holding her sideways. With lithe fingers she started caressing the distraught blonde’s forehead, easing the lines her crying created, easing her worries.

“Calm down, Little Moon, you need to sleep.” She did not need to look at the time to know that they were hours away from sunrise, and although they could not actually sleep in for once, she knew that they would stay in bed as long as the little girl needed them to.

Luna shook her head, too upset to think about sleeping any time soon. She buried her face against the soft chest of her beloved friend, letting her tears stain her soft see-through camisole.

Smiling sadly the older girl started caressing the girl’s cheeks and nose, letting her hand linger for a few seconds in her lips that were trying to suck the thumb she desperately needed only to continue her caressing on the girl’s face and back to the lips. After a few minutes of this the blonde’s breathing evened a little and Hermione started caressing the knuckles that were only inches away from Luna’s nose. Taking the hand that was being sucked into one of her own she gently detached it from the second year’s mouth. “I need you to sip this, love.” She whispered, trying not to spook the calming blonde. She gently put the bottle’s mouth onto the girl’s lips and tipped it so that she could sip the tonic in it.

Luna whimpered when her thumb was forcefully removed but she sipped as she was told, only to grimace in disgust at the sour flavor that entered her mouth. She was ready to spit it when a warm finger was simply put on her lips, preventing her to open her mouth. “Swallow, honey.” She was prompted softly and she conveyed if only to avoid having such foul taste in her mouth for longer than necessary.

Hermione smiled at her friend. She put her bottle on her bedside table again and swiftly corked it with a wave of her hand. Returning to her friend she started her caressing again. “Thank you, Little Love. You’re such a good girl. And now is time to sleep.”

The blonde blinked, her tears still falling but her frantic heart finally calming. She looked up to the girl she held dear to her heart and wondered how in the world was she planning to make her sleep after such a horrible nightmare. An image sparked in her mind, a memory she had buried deep in her subconscious that was now emerging, to taunt her, to mock her. She blushed.

The brunette raised an eyebrow at that. Luna simply did not blush unless she was being complimented or caught doing something truly –even for the crazy blonde’s standars- embarrassing, but otherwise the little girl’s face would remain as pale and smooth as always. Smirking, knowing her friend was as calm as she would be tonight and that the tonic she drank was not really enough to make her sleepy, she teased. “What are you thinking, you little minx?”

Luna simply blushed more and hid her flaming face on the older girl’s chest, a bad move as the action remembered her of the memory that had started all this awkwardness. She closed her eyes, maybe if she did not see she would forget the image, right?

“Luna?” The brunette’s voice was soft and caring, yet it held a little concern. “What’s the matter?”

Detaching herself of the older girl’s embrace she let herself fall onto the soft bed. She noticed how her limbs were heavy and movement was sluggish as she curled away from her Gryffindor, trying to erase bad, bad, images from her mind.

Blinking confused the older witch stared at her friend, knowing full well that the tonic she had drank had calmed her enough to stop crying and prompting her to sleep, but it certainly was not working as Hermione had hoped as the blonde was now closing her off. “Little Moon? Please tell me what’s wrong?” She lay behind the other girl and embraced her by the waist.

Luna sighed, knowing full well that Hermione was getting worried over just a stupid memory. Resigned at the high possibility that her friend would be disgusted, or at the very best very shocked, she started speaking. “When I was little I used to have many nightmares. My Momma would come to lie with me and held me through the night. I was just remembering when I got really nasty ones and what Momma used to do to make me fall asleep again.”

The brunette frowned. That was not so bad; she could understand that Luna had her nightmare because it had been her mother’s death anniversary, but she could not think what kind of memory would make the blonde so embarrassed. “What did she do?”

The smaller girl turned to face her friend, her face redder than Hermione had ever seen. “She kinda let me suck her.”

The Gryffindor blinked owlishly. “What?”

Luna’s blush got to the point it was as red as a hot iron. “She used to take off her shirt and let me suck her breast like when I was a baby.”

“Oh.” That was all that could came from the older witch. It was a surprise to hear that, true, but she had got to know about the blonde’s childhood via Mister Lovegood. She had understood fairly quickly that the girl in front of her was raised differently than most kids where and that many methods both her parents used were far from the norm. So, yes, the revelation was a surprise, but not really a shock considering who she was talking with. An idea came to mind, and before she let herself think about it, as it was her habit, she simply blurted it out. “Do you want me to?”

It was Luna’s time to blink slowly, trying to understand what was happening. Her blush disappeared, knowing her friend was not disgusted, only to reappear with more force once what Hermione said registered on her brain. “What?!”

The brunette blushed too, now seeing why she always had to think before speaking. Still, she really wanted to make the girl comfortable enough to sleep as she knew too well how awful it was to try to sleep after one of her night terrors. “I don’t mind, love, if that makes you feel better.” Without really waiting for the other girl to say her consent Hermione sat and in a swift motion had removed her camisole, leaving her only in a pair of boxers. Snuggling again beneath the covers she faced the blonde and simply waited.

Luna smiled at her friend. And they called _her_ strange! One part of her wondered why would Hermione think it was okay to let her suck her, even Luna knew that was highly improper as Grandma Lovegood had told her so when she tried to latch on her when she was five. Other part of her marveled at the love this girl had for her, she doubted there was any other person in the world that would offer her their chest as trustily. Yet another part of her got sidetracked and asked why Hermione kept sleeping in such thin camisole when it was as cold as the North Pole in the castle, Luna was wearing her favorite pajamas, a thick, pale pink one-piece, with long sleeves and footed legs and she simply could not understand how on Earth Hermione kept warm.

But the bigger part of her, the one that was moved with instinct and emotion, was glad that her long forgotten comfort method could be used again. She knew that once the memory of the calmness that sucking on something that was not her thumb entered her mind she would have a hard time sleeping. She felt glad to have such a marvelous person in her life. “Are you sure?” She looked up timidly at the brunette. She was elated at the deep bronze eyes that looked at her with all the love and care in the world.

Hermione shook her head in amusement and reached for the girl, one arm came around her waist and the other around her shoulders. With little effort she erased the distance between them and with one of her hands she gently held the back of her flaxen head, softly urging her face towards her chest. “It’s okay, Little Moon.”

Luna felt tears trickle her eyes. She was both grateful and simply marveled at the actions this amazing witch did towards her. She let her eyelids drop as her lips carefully closed around a perfect tan nipple. She waited for a second and then began sucking.

Above her Hermione winced silently. Luna’s lips were cold against her heated breast and the sucking, while gentle, was completely foreign to her and caused a light ache in her skin. The hand that held the blonde’s head slowly started to scratch the scalp it was touching, prompting a whimper from the girl and causing Hermione shiver.

Opening a sleepy eye Luna looked up at Hermione in question, her mouth never ceasing its work. “You are cold.” The brunette replied softly, not ready to admit to the girl that Luna’s actions were making her tummy swirl in a good way; a _really_ good way.

Luna hummed in acknowledge, not caring that the woman resting before her was lying while yet another shiver ran through the older witch. She closed her eye and let her right arm embrace the Gryffindor by the waist and her left hand grope the unused boob, holding it as she hold it every night, finally letting her sleep consume her.

Hermione looked down at the girl with a small smile playing in her lips. Even in deep sleep Luna still sucked quiet steadily, yet a lot gentler. The older girl sighed, she had given Luna some of her Dreamless Tonic, but she had forgotten to have her own dose. Closing her eyes she prayed silently that she would not get her own share of nightmares tonight. She knew that if she had one the chances of calming her herself down were non-existent. At least Luna could sleep with a simple action. Hermione could not.

The blonde murmured something around her nipple. The small smile that had been in her lips widened to a full grin as she let herself return to Morpheus’ Land. It would not matter if she ended having a night terror, Luna was happy and that was all that mattered to her now.

For Hermione, this would be the very first night in months in which she would have a dream. A very pleasant dream filled with Nargles and bunnies.

# Chapter Nineteen – The Talk

“Sirius, what do I own the pleasure?”

“Minerva. Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice.”

The Headmistress nodded. “Please, take a seat.”

“Thank you.” The tired man let himself almost sprawl on the soft armchair the old witch motioned.

The witch smiled softly, of all the Marauders he had always been her favorite, the one always smiling, the one always looking at his own past and going onwards. Sure, the man had done several stupid things over the curse of his life, but he had been a good lad and a noble teen that turned out to be an honorable and reliable man.

“So, how can I help you?”

Sirius sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. “Over Christmas I went to the Black House and came across a surprise.” He shifted on his seat, felling the interested gaze of the woman on him. “I discovered that Bellatrix had a kid with Voldemort.” There, quick and to the point.

A minute passed. Then another.

Then five.

By ten Sirius was sure he had broken the stern Headmistress. “Minerva?” The old woman was sitting still in her own armchair, her eyes unmoving and the tea she had been holding at his arrival still in her shaking hands.

“W-What?”

The man sighed again. “Bellatrix and Voldemort had a child together.”

The older witch shook her head, trying to understand what the wizard before her was actually saying. Once it made sense she only had one question. “How?” As far as everyone knew the Dark Lord was physically incapable of having children… and Bellatrix was mentally incapable.

Sirius smiled, remembering asking the very same question and he decided to answer as his own had been. “You really don’t believe I’ll teach you the ways of baby making, do you?”

Minerva blushed, knowing full well the man was mainly teasing her. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

The man chuckled softly before sobering up. “I came across the family’s tree and there it was, a girl born from those two.”

The headmistress nodded once, the Black Family Tapestry was well known by all the wizarding community as were most of its properties.

“I want to show you something.” He said as he held a little vial with a clear liquid in it.

The witch eyed at the obvious memory before rising to gather her personal Pensive. “What is that about?” she asked once the little bowl was put in the table between them.

“What I know about the girl.”

Minerva nodded and took the vial, silently pouring the memory and immersing herself in it.    

XxXxX

_The Headmistress opened her eyes and found herself in the Malfoy drawing room, Sirius Black sitting regally before an equally royal Narcissa Malfoy, no, Narcissa Black. The woman had divorced Lucius as soon as he had been arrested. She saw with interest as the reunion began and was stunned at how the Black woman had known of the girl, yet had never said anything. She sat next to the remembered Sirius as the blonde started to tell them her tale._

“The Dark Lord chose Bella from all the eager female Death Eaters _and_ male’s wives. He chose my sister because she was the wildest, both in magic and in moral. She had no trouble killing children and torturing females just for his sick amusement. She was the most devoted of all of them, of all the Death Eaters, she could have killed herself at his word.

“I know for a fact that she loved him. It was a sick, monstrous love. But it _was_ love. I had never seen my sister so, so, entranced in a man, in anyone. When he demanded Rodo to hand him his wife my bother-in-law was pleased, he was so happy that he could make the Dark Lord happy. Bella was in seven heaven. She could finally show her love how much she could do for him.

“While Bella and Rodo never had children, it took less than a couple of months for her to become pregnant with his child. The Dark Lord was pleased, he wanted to have an heir, a wizard strong enough to follow his footsteps and eliminate all the mudblood scum in England, and possibly in the whole world. He was no fool, he was old and he was losing his power and strength, and while he had several followers, over time there were more and more wizards fighting against him than alongside him. He needed to leave someone to continue his work.

“I took care of Bella during the pregnancy. I think nobody knew of the baby outsides the Inner Circle, and they were all sworn into secrecy, I guess I was forgotten because it was my sister the one having the baby and I never was a Death Eater, but I knew better than putting my sister, my childhood hero, in danger. I loved Bella, even today there’s a part of me that wonder why I didn’t go to Azkaban and demanded for my sister to be set free, to hold her against me, to cry with her, to take away her pain.” Narcissa let a couple of tears fall from her eyes, Sirius just pretended he did not notice.

“He decided that Black was a more fitting name for his heir, and thus the baby would be named accordingly to the family tradition, somehow. Canopus Marvolo Black, that was to be his name. A powerful name, after a powerful star, a powerful family and a powerful man, or so they said. It was a real surprise, though, when the little thing came two months earlier than planned and thwacked everything the Dark Lord had envisioned for his son.

“I remember that night, it was the most awful and gross night I’ve ever had. Not even Draco’s birth was as traumatizing. Bella had been in labor for more than a day, thirty hours of pain and cries. She had frozen at the end of that night, and we all lost hope, now we simply had to fight for the small creature’s life. The temperature suddenly dropped and my sister cried, showing she was more alive than we thought. A loud wail was heard when the midwife finally got the bundle out my sister. A baby, a baby girl.

“For a moment I thought the Dark Lord would be displeased, that he would order my sister and the girl’s deaths, because we were waiting a boy, a strong, powerful boy. We got a small sized, pale girl. He took the girl in his arms as soon as she was out, still bloodied and dirty and,” At this the blonde paused, a frown marring her face. “He smiled. He actually _smiled_. At that time he had already lost most of his human features, so believe me when I tell you that sight was something I wish I can forget.

“Bella was confused, as we were. The Dark Lord’s Inner Circle was perplexed, we had thought he was going to go mad, to demand another woman, another child, but he actually liked the idea of being father to a _daughter_. He named her instantly as his heir, the one everybody had to follow, had to protect and cherish, as he would be. She gave her a powerful name, just as he had planned, and the girl was simply his. We never knew how, but the Black Tapestry instantly accepted the girl as a Black.”

“Did any of you tempered with it?” Sirius interrupted for the first time.

Narcissa shook her head. “No. Aunt Walburga saw when the name appeared. Nobody outside the Inner Circle knew until she saw the name embroidered in it. She was thrilled, let me tell you, to finally have a Black heir, seeing as Regulus was dead and you were a dishonor.”

“How was that possible?”

“We never knew. It was simply there after the girl’s name was chosen.”

The Auror nodded, perplexed but knowing fully well that there was nothing she could tell him if she really did not knew. “Please continue.”

“The Dark Lord loved her with anything he had, not even the affection he had shown to Bella came close to the utter love he showed the girl. He was hoping for a powerful leader, and he got one. The girl was really good at making things happen, she could easily vanish things and she liked to disappear on us. She had a strange fascination with the water and ice and Bella swore that she saw the girl making an icicle once. I didn’t, so I cannot say, but you could almost feel the power that ran through her.

“Everybody liked the girl, too. She had a lovely smile and a habit to warm her way through all of our hearts. Did you know that Lucius actually wanted a girl? Of course you didn’t. He hoped for a girl of his own, and was rather disappointed at Draco’s birth, but that’s another story.

“Bella was jealous of the attention the Dark Lord showed her, but at the same time, she was in love with her daughter too. That’s what broke her when he was defeated.” She whispered, so soft that Sirius, and Minerva, had to strain to hear her.

“What do you mean?” He could not believe what she was saying, but he had saw the Tapestry, the girl existed, and she was daughter to two monsters.

“Not many know, but Bella was there when he went after the Potters.” Narcissa started slowly, not knowing if this little bit could be told as easily. “She went with him, along Lucius and a handful of other Death Eaters. Lucius witnessed everything, from the moment Wormtail revealed the safe place to the moment the Dark Lord’s curse backfired. He saw how Lily Potter got in between him and her son, he saw how the Dark Lord hesitated, just for a fraction of a second when he saw the love the woman had for her child; it was long enough for her to cast a curse on him, so Bella killed her.”

Sirius’ sharp intake of breath interrupted for a second. “He saw how he also hesitated to kill the child, and how Bella prompted him to do so. But he hesitated too long because the Potter woman’s curse was already beginning to take a toll on him and his Unforgivable was not as strong as it should have, so it backfired and killed part of him instead.

“Bella was devastated, she saw the love of her life dying and Lucius had to drag her here to prevent her of doing anything stupid, it didn’t work. Bella had always been a fanatic, a true believer and a cruel woman, easy to kill and torture, but she was sane in a strange kind of way. That night she simply snapped. She blamed the girl of causing her lover’s death. She said the love he professed for the girl had made him hesitate to kill a baby as small as his daughter, so, she sought retribution.”

Sirius frowned. “You mean…”

Narcissa nodded. “Yes. She took the girl and left, when she came back she claimed she had drowned the girl and fired her body, so nobody would ever know that the little monster was hers. She said that it was only fair to kill the true defeater of the Dark Lord, but as she had loved her so much, it simply made her plain mad. That’s what made her look for the Longbottoms with so much haste. She wanted to be captured. She needed to be captured. You could practically see the guilt and remorse in her eyes.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Narcissa looked down. “Draco was just a year old, I couldn’t chance his father to be incarcerated, or me, for helping Bella and the Dark Lord.” She paused for a second. “I also thought that if she was proven anymore charges she would be sentenced to The Kiss, and, even though she is a monster, she is my sister and I loved her. I don’t think I could have bear knowing she died because of me.”

“And the girl?”

“Why would it matter? I always took care of her, but I wasn’t her mother. She was killed just at two, and as much as I still mourn her, she _is_ dead.”

“That isn’t true.” He said softly.

“Oh? Are you telling _me_ I’m wrong?” Narcissa snapped, truly on edge after revealing so much of a secret she had promised herself she would never tell. Still, a weight was lifted from her shoulders at finally telling someone something she considered her personal hell. “Me, the one who lived through those three awful years? Who mourns both her sister’s and niece’s death? Who still thinks that she should had defended the girl, taken her in as her own, raise her with Draco? Me?!”

Sirius blinked stunned at that. Narcissa had surely changed, she was no longer the awkward Black little princess, she was a grown woman, with scars and personal ghosts. But he knew she was wrong. “I told you I saw the Tapestry. You know as I do that the thing is enchanted to keep tabs on us, to tell us who’s married who and who had what child at what time.” At Narcissa’s hesitant nod he continued. “The Tapestry shows mother and father dead, as well as showing that Uncle Cygnus, Aunt Druella and Bellatrix are also dead. It shows my name, blasted off, but alive, as does yours and Draco’s. As does the girl.”

Narcissa froze.

“Cissy, she is _alive._ ”

XxXxX

“Do you know what this means?” Sirius asked her, truly concerned once the Headmistress was out the memory.

“That there is a kid out there that has the blood of two of the most bloodlust wizards the history had ever had.”

The man shook his head. “That may be true, but that doesn’t concern me. She is a Black, Minerva. A Black by birth.”

“I don’t understand, Sirirus.” The danger of having such a kid loose was simply too grand. Voldemort had been a truly powerful wizard, intelligent and cunning, and Bellatrix, while not the most powerful, had had true strength and dedication.

“Once a Black is born,” He started, “At least of ‘true’ blood by two generations, it’s recorded in the old Tapestry. It works to keep tabs on the family and to help determinate which Black is the next heir of the family fortune. My family’s inner working is really strange and is protected by the oldest magic you can image, dark old magic, so please interrupt me if you get lost. Let’s pretend for a moment Bella didn’t have a child.

“There are several branches of the Black line. Mine is the First one, so I am, by blood, the family heir. As I was disowned the title and fortune passed down to Regulus and when he died it bounced back at me. I am currently the Head of House, but because my blood was stated as impure none of my children, if I had any, would inherit the title and states, instead once I’m dead it would go down the next branch of the line, ensuring the title can continue on as pure as always. With me so far? Good.

“Now, the Second branch of the family died out when I was a little boy, and the Third one dissolved at the time of my grandparents. So the nearest branch is the Fourth one, the one that bore Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa. This brings another problem, all of them are females and don’t have the Black name anymore. Yet, Bella, being the oldest, is the one that would inherit the title once I’m dead. But, as she is also dead, the title would pass down to Andy, who is in a similar case as mine; because she was disowned Tonks would never have any say in the family matters when her mother dies. So, the Head of House would reside in Narcissa, which you and I know would renounce her titles the moment she received them in favor of her son.

“By that logic Draco Malfoy is the currently next heir. He is not a true Black, but his blood is only diluted by one generation, as Narcissa was a true Black. He was the only one in the next generation of my family, Minerva. Then, this girl is Bella’s daughter, which put her in a direct line for the tittle after my death. But that’s not everything, no, if this girl ever tries to claim her name, even if I’m still alive, then the title will pass on her, because she was recognized by the damn Tapestry as a true Black.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Narcissa is no longer a Black for the family’s magic, because she married Lucius she is now considered a Malfoy in the Tapestry, same case with Bella and Andy. Just because they are Black by birth they are the next in line for the titles… however, this girl does have the Black name in the Tapestry, which makes her the true heir of the house as I’m disowned.”

Minerva frowned. “But she is daughter of Voldemort. He doesn’t have the Black name.”

Sirius groaned. “That’s what’s scare me, Minerva. The Tapestry recognized her as a Black, a true blood girl. I don’t know what kind of power the girl has, but she is my family’s heir.”

“What do you mean?”

“That the Tapestry cannot be interfered with!” He said in true desperation. “The Tapestry recognized the magic of the Blacks in her, as it did her blood. She had to be really powerful for the stupid thing to actually allow the girl to have the Black name, even if her blood is diluted as is Draco’s, no, it’s worse, because Voldemort was half-blood, yet she is true enough to be the heir. Don’t you see what that means?”

The older witch shook her head, truly not understanding how the man was concerned about who the heir of his family was when such a child was on the loose. Sure, it was a trouble for him, but it could be easily mended with young Mister Malfoy and the right connections. Even if he did not, he could still leave the title and fortune to his Godson, Harry, as the Magical Law allowed in special cases.

“That means, Headmistress,” He said somberly. “That the girl’s magic is powerful enough to overrule centuries of old, dark magic. Magic that had been layered generation by generation for many, many years. Every new Head of House is required to power the Tapestry to ensure that it works properly. Never, in the whole Black history someone had managed to overrule that magic, and we have been around at least since Middle Ages. That means that she is powerful enough to defeat any of us at any time, Minerva. It doesn’t matter who are her parents, if she is tipped to the wrong side the whole wizarding community could be eliminated easily.”

 

# Chapter Twenty – Morgen

“What do you want to do?” Minerva asked him, understanding perfectly well what the man had just told her. This girl needed to be located immediately. She was too dangerous to be left alone.

“We, Narcissa and I, don’t want to make this knowledge public, but we really need to find her.” Sirius smiled softly, tears gathering in his eyes. “She was elated, Minerva, knowing her nice was alive, that Bella hadn’t kill her. We need to find her, for both her and the wizarding community’s sake.”

“And what do you have planned? We cannot surely place an Ad in the Prophet.” Her voice was full of sarcasm and a little of fear.

“The girl is just a year older than Harry, if she is a normal witch she would be at Hogwarts. Or in any other school, really, but this one is certainly the most probable.”

Minerva nodded. So the girl was a sixth year or a fifth year, _if_ , and that was a big if, she was attending Hogwarts. “I’m sure we have no Black girl in school, Sirius.”

“I know, Minerva, but the girl may not even use her birth name. Maybe we could perform an identity test or something similar to the students.”

“Really? And how can we do that? Is not like I have the pretexts to go around asking for samples.”

“Maybe something in class? Something that could be easily counted as part of the curriculum?”

The Headmistress hummed. “Maybe we can ask Severus to teach them the Namae Suiyaku… though it is not exactly cheap.”

“The Name Potion?” A wizard’s, or witch in this case, name was recorded in their magic the moment the father or mother declared the child name aloud for the first time. It was what made tricking the Goblins at Gringotts so hard as they could read the names in the magic. Even if the girl had changed her name, her true, magical one, would be easily recognized by this means.

“Yes.” The witch knew Severus was familiar enough with the Japanese potion, a potion easy enough to make that even the first years would be able to do it without a hitch. The trick was getting the ingredients all the way from the Rising Sun country. That was what made the potion truly expensive and unused in the British Island.

“Thank you, Minerva, I’ll pay for it.” Sirius said quietly, knowing they did not have many options really.

The witch sighed. “Don’t worry about it, Sirius. We really need to find this girl, although the ingredients could take a long time to arrive.” She took her sup and sipped her cold tea. She then frowned. “You didn’t tell me her name.”

Sirius smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Her name is Capella Black. Capella Morgen Black.”

The teacup that had been in the old woman’s hands suddenly crashed to the floor.

XxXxX

“Morgen?”

The girl grunted awake. The Dreamless Tonic she had taken just minutes before had made her sleepiness welcome as always, but she so hated that name and the mere mention of it had her alert again. It was the original transcript of Morgan le Fey, the woman that was usually equaled to Merlin himself. The witch that had had such a hard life, filled with deception and anguish… that was the first witch to go rough, to go against the Muggles. “Don’t call me that.” She grumbled annoyed. She could accept everyone calling her that but Luna.

The blonde turned, her head snuggling deeper onto the taller girl’s stomach where it was resting, to face the older girl. They were lying in Hermione’s big bed, both exhausted after a long month of school and long hours of studying and doing homework.

It had been tiring for Hermione because the shock of her name was still fresh people still wanted to guess the reason behind her adoption. The teachers were still bothering her, annoyed that Minerva has been quick enough to snatch her, and they liked to remind the girl that the Headmistress was not the best option for her. What they could not even begin to understand was that her Mama cared for her for who she was, not because she was an intelligent, powerful witch, and that the older woman was the only one to want her _before_ things were known as opposed to the rest of them that only cared for what they could do with her.

It had been tiring for Luna because it was the first time she had to actually pay attention to what she was doing during class, and she had to stress over the class work and homework. It was also hard for her to be near her classmates and ex-housemates when they knew she no longer lived in Ravenclaw Tower. Her head constantly ached and she was tired all over, even when she was sleeping better than never on her life after the nightmare she had on Monday and eating more vegetables than ever. It helped knowing she had the brunette on her side, but it still made her nervous being near so many mean people.

Coupled with all that, Hermione still had her Prefect duties and rounds to make. As she was Prefect she was asked to tutor the younger kids and for at least three hours a week she had to sit in a designated classroom waiting for the students to come to her. Sometimes kids showed up, sometimes they did not, but she had to serve her time anyway. She had to do rounds every other night, to make sure people were where they were supposed to be. It was just tiring and taxing, for both Luna and the brunette. It was hard for the younger to be by herself at those times because she had nothing to distract her as she had not gotten to the point of being able to do her homework by herself, Neenie still had to help her focus, so it was wasted time for the both of them.

The little witch looked at the frown that was marring her friend’s face. They were supposed to be napping, but the girl could not really sleep, even when she was tired beyond reason. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Maybe Hermione was more exhausted than she thought. A rested Neenie would have understood instantly what she meant. “I was just wondering where that name came from, that’s all.”

“I don’t know.” She mentally smacked herself for being so harsh to the girl. “That’s what Voldemort called me when he saw me.”

“Why?”

The brunette shrugged. “I don’t know, Luna. That’s just what he called me. He was surprised to see me, though, that’s how we managed to beat him.”

The blonde frowned. “Can you tell me what happened that night?”

Hermione grunted again. She really did not want to remember the day she helped kill a man. But little people really knew what had happened that night, so she guessed that the blonde was in all her right to ask. The Prophet was not a reliable source of information after all. “Fine, but if I fall asleep telling you you’ll wait till after I wake to finish, okay?” She grumbled, barely audible… and barely conscious.

Luna blinked. Neenie was annoyed and sleepy… not a good combination. Maybe it would be better if she waited for the older girl to actually be awake to tell her. Getting up from her resting place she instead snuggled to the older girl’s side, resting her head on her soft, bare breast. “Tell me after we wake up.” She closed her eyes and let her thumb sneak to her mouth while the rest of the fingers grazed softly at the nipple beneath them.

Hermione just mumbled her consent, already more asleep than awake, yet truly grateful for the little time Luna had given her to order her thoughts and rest.

XxXxX

Harry watched to flames dance in the fireplace. The room was filled to the brim with people, all laughing and cheering. It was the officially the end of the first month of the new term, and that merited a big party with mead and firewhiskey, along with several kinds of snacks brought from the kitchens.

Gryffindors surely knew how to make people hung over in barely a couple of hours. That was the whole point of the party, after all, but, while the rest of the house was intoxicated, The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice was simply sipping his glass of firewhiskey, contemplating the fire. He had heard lot of rumors concerning his best female friend and they were still swirling his mind.

He knew Hermione enough to know that most of the rumors were false. His friend was in no way responsible of her parent’s death, nor she was snobbish enough to abandon them to their fate to a bunch of Death Eaters. Hermione was also not the one that had begged McGonagall to take her in, because he knew even if the girl was in need of help she was too proud to actually ask for it.

So that only left most of the worst case scenarios the students had managed to come out with. Of all of those having the brunette sold to the Headmistress was the most stupid, seconded by the belief that her parents had inherit her to the older woman. There was also the idea, which had several followers, that McGonagall had always been the girl’s true mother. That one was just hard to buy it, especially if people actually stopped and looked at the pair for a second. They were as different as oil and water, and although they shared several interest and mannerisms, they were obviously not related.

The only one that actually had Harry thinking was Pansy’s personal favorite, the one in which the brunette’s parents had abandoned her. It was nasty and coming from a snake instantly made it a lie, the only thing strange was that theory did not come from Draco. He was acting strange since Voldemort’s death, he was just different. The blond boy had been more polite, yes, and he did not professed blood purity as many Slytherin still did, maybe he had just changed, or maybe he had always been like that and was just influenced by his father. He frowned. Something about that thought made him pause and remember what he knew about his friend’s parents. He knew nothing of them.

Sure, the girl had referred to them several times by ‘mum’ and ‘dad’, but she actually only talked about them when asked a direct question, like the time Lavender had wanted to know what her parents did for a living. He did not know the names, or the faces. He had never seen a photograph of Mister and Missus Granger, which he considered odd because even him, the parentless one, had some of his parents. Now that he thought of that he realized that he actually had an idea of what most if his friend’s families looked like. It was common for all the kids to have at least something to help them remember where they came from, and that something was almost always a picture.

So he had no name and no face to the mystery that was his friend’s procreators. Hermione never bothered to talk about her life before Hogwarts, and that was something he could relate to. There was something innate to the wizard-raised that simply compelled them to talk and talk about their families and their history for hours, always trying to outmatch the others, so there was no real secret on what kind of lives had most of the students attending Hogwarts. Only the Muggle-rised and the Muggleborn were conscious that that kind of talk more often than not could lead to trouble, and were taught not to talk to strangers about who they were or what their family did.

Although, if he was honest with himself, Hermione was a little more secretive than most and went to great lengths to avoid the ‘parents’ topic. He did not know what it was to have parents, but he had seen that his friends, the ones he knew had parents, were different than him. It was a small difference, but after living with so many children in such and enclosed space for almost five years now, he could see to see it: the way their eyes shone with a different kind of light, the slight fear of their parents knowing they’d done wrong, the way they tried to impress others because they were trying to impress _them_ … it was subtle, yes, but something he noticed the kids he knew had no parents lacked. Neville and Susan Bones were his prime example, because they acted more like him, and now that he noticed it, they all acted like Hermione.

“Hey, mate!” A slur called to him and made him snap out of his thoughts.

“Ron.” Harry sipped his firewhiskey grimacing, wondering why he still wanted to drink such an awful liquid.

The dunk redhead plopped besides him, his face as red as his hair and the unmistakable sour smell of barf coming from him. The raven haired boy wrinkled his nose, Ron surely had thrown up not so long ago. “What’cha doin’, mate?” He said barely understandably.

“Thinking, Ron, just thinking.” The other boy simply snored, passed out from so much booze.

Harry sighed and got up. He headed for his bedroom and smiled when the only other boy there was Neville. The awkward boy was sitting in his bed reading a book, silently trying the spells he read with the faintest movement of his lips.

“Hey, Nev.” Harry whispered, knowing full well that the boy was prone to have a small heart attack if he was scared enough.

Neville did jumped alarmed, but it was not as bad as Harry had thought it could be. He smiled shyly at his roommate. “Harry, I thought you’d be downstairs.”

“Nah, too much alcohol for my tastes.” He replied while flopping down his bed, glad that the room’s door muffled the party downstairs.

Both boys lounged silently, Neville reading and Harry thinking. After some minutes it was the latter who broke the silence. “Hey, Nev, can I ask you something?”

Neville lowered his book and looked at the other boy, confused as to why he wanted to ask _him_ something. “Sure.”

“Why you never go to the House parties?”

The chubby boy blinked, he was not expecting that. “I guess I don’t like them.”

Harry frowned. “But why?”

The other wizard simply shrugged. “They are boring if you don’t get plastered, and I don’t really see the point in that. Why do you ask?”

Harry gave a shrug of his own. Neville was right; they were boring if you did not drink enough to pass out, and to be frank he agreed with Neville in that they were absolutely boring. “Mione and I don’t like them either, I was just wondering why you don’t.” Harry only attended because it was expected of him and because he wanted to fit in. The only two to never attend in the whole Tower were Neville and Hermione, and she had told him the something along the same lines Neville had when he had asked her why she never drink.

The boy nodded, Harry was always the first one to go to bed in a party night, and he himself always retired early in the night, opposed as what many of their roommates did. “You two are smart.” Was his final comment before returning to his book.

Harry sighed. The more he thought about it the more he convinced himself that Hermione never knew her parents. She thought so much like Neville and himself, and the only thing the two boys had in common was that they also had never got to know their parents.

He scoffed to himself. He surely had drunk too much again, Hermione had nothing in common with them. If he continued thinking along those lines next he would start thinking Voldemort was the girl’s father. No, better to stop now that he knew he was wrong, before something stupider crossed his mind.

 


	7. Chapter 7

# Chapter Twenty-One – Not Her, Right?

“Mama?”

There was no answer.

Shutting the door behind them the two witches crossed the Headmistress office to where she knew the older woman kept the item they sorely needed.

“Are you sure she won’t mind?”

Hermione smiled softly at the phrase that had become so natural when they were doing something they both knew her Mama or Xeno would not like. “I don’t think so.” She said as she opened the door to a more private area of the office.

The younger witch frowned. That was not the right answer. “Are you telling me that it’s highly probable that she’ll be mad?” She watched as the older girl went to a glass cabinet and tried to open it, only to find it locked.

The brunette blinked as she started looking for the key she knew Minerva kept somewhere in one of her books behind her personal desk. “Yeah, I think she could.” She shrugged as she kept looking.

Luna groaned. After Hermione had been adopted the girl had become reckless and daring when it came to the Headmistress. The older girl had stopped thinking about consequences when it came to the stern witch a long time ago if the stories she had heard were true. Minerva had spent several nights over dinner telling her the stupid ideas Hermione came with since she entered Hogwarts and the punishments she had received because of them, stories that had to be true if the red face of her silent friend was any indication.

Hermione had known the Headmistress was always on her tail, keeping tabs on her and always ready to deliver any disciplinary action that was deserved. What had started as a disappointed Professor punishing a small twelve-years-old bushy haired girl after a troll accident had become over the years in the love and familiarity that both shared. Still, Minerva was always happy to deliver punishment when the girl asked; having adopted the girl had not changed that, but for some strange reason Hermione had decided to forget that little fact. She had been doing things more fit for a bratty child since the adoption when she knew there were things the older witch did not approve of. At least the girl had not been caught doing any of them since the canning she had received at the start of the holidays.

“Neenie! We should not be here!” Luna whined. She knew what kind of repercussions messing with the Headmistress entailed.

Hermione cried in triumph once the little key fell out a worn out copy of ‘Moby Dick’. Picking it up she made a quick job of opening the case and getting the bowl she was looking for. “Relax, love. I know she has a meeting at the Ministry right now.”

The blonde did not look convinced, though. “Want to bet you ass on in?” She asked her with her long arms crossed.

The older girl simply smiled a toothy smile and reached for a small vial from her robe’s pocket. “You only want my ass for your own use, Luna.” She replied amused as she gently poured the clear liquid on the bowl. “There. We can watch the memory now.”

Momentarily forgetting why they were arguing, the younger witch looked at the small Pensive with a frown. “Are you sure?”

Hermione’s playful attitude disappeared in an instant, turning to something that reminded the blonde of that first time she had met the brunette. “You are the one that wanted to know what happened that night, and I rather you watch it than I tell you.” She sighed.

Luna shuddered. “I’m sorry, Neenie. I don’t think I can actually watch.” She looked at her friend with barely concealed guilt and sorrow.

The brunette gave a sigh of her own. She knew she was pushing the girl too far, too fast. For two weeks, since the moment the younger girl had wanted to know about Voldemort’s demise, she had tried to avoid talking to her, she had wanted to simply lie to her and tell her a fairy tale in with the bad, bad, bad man was defeated by love and courage. But the true was far from that, and she knew that she could never forgive herself if she lied to her Luna. “I’m sorry.” She whispered, truly ashamed of her actions.

The blonde smiled and reached to hug her friend. “It’s okay, Neenie. I love you.”

The older girl let herself melt onto the shorter one, glad that everything was at least somewhat alright. “Love you too.” She pecked the lips she had come to desire almost on daily basis. “Let’s get out of here, love, before Mama comes back.”

“Too late, little girl.”

Both girls stiffened at the new voice that echoed in the small private office. A well-known, stern, soft, _angry_ , voice. Gulping and getting out their embrace, they turned to the room’s entrance, paling at the sight that greeted them.

“Hi, Mama.”

“Go stand in the corner, Neenie.”

“Yes, Mama.”

XxXxX

The witch sighed as she kept walking through the halls of the almost silent school. It was Saturday afternoon and most students were out playing in the snow or inside doing homework, but at least they were nowhere near her. She hoped to not be disturbed. It had been maybe two weeks since her dear friend had come to ask for help, and of course she had said yes. The matter was too much important for her to say no, after all.

Voldemort and Bellatrix having a child. That was simply too bizarre to be true, but at the same time, too strange for not to be real. Nobody in the Order of the Phoenix could have imagined that the Dark Lord had actually had an heir. Never mind it was half Bellatrix, the mere fact that the vilest man on earth had been able to procreate was enough of a shock.

Sure Narcissa Black, the divorcee of Lucius Malfoy, had known all along, but she could never blade the woman for keeping it a secret. The bond between the eldest and the youngest Black sisters was legendary, both had been devastated when their sister, Andromeda, had left to marry a low Muggleborn and as such they had simply grow closer together than before.

Many thought Narcissa was a Death Eater, mainly because her oldest sister was one, but after a Veritaserum session with Bellatrix had provided that her little sister was never approached with that proposition. Minerva highly believed that it was in fact Bellatrix the one that made sure her sister was never marked with the Dark Lord’s snake and skull.

Minerva knew better, Minerva had gotten to know the Black sisters when they had attended Hogwarts. She had seen the way Bellatrix had loved both her little sisters, only to be left with the youngest after Andromeda’s blood treachery. The crazy witch had then doted and loved her little sister with more vigor. The Headmistress knew Bellatrix, and knew she had done everything in her power to protect the youngest Black from the repercussions following Voldemort entailed, so it had been a shock to learn that she had killed the daughter Narcissa Black swore she had loved.

Bellatrix Lestrange was a strange witch. She loved with a sick love, but it was a love filled with devotion and loyalty. If what she had learned from seeing Siruis’ memory was true and Bellatrix had loved Voldemort, she can easily see what kind of love she had professed. Having a child, a child she had loved also, had surely made her even more aggressive towards the people wanting to defeat the Dark Lord. It had surely made her do anything in her power to protect her.

So this hidden girl, that Bellatrix had made it so that everybody who knew of the girl believed her dead, but actually hiding her in plain sight, was something that the crazy witch could certainly do.

According to Sirius the girl had been born in late September, 1979, meaning that the witch was cursing her fifth year at Hogwarts, if she was studying in the school.

The Headmistress sighed. She had already read through the logs that the school kept about the magical children in the United Kingdom. Once a magical child was born in the Islands the logs would magically add the name and date of birth of said children. And there it was, in bold, big, black letters, the girl’s name and the date… September the nineteen.

But there was no record of any contact made with the girl, of nothing that the school had done to ensure the girl was taken care of. Much like the A.C.D., one of Hogwarts’ main purposes was to make sure no magical child was neglected or harmed, that was why the school always made sure the Ministry was informed of any magical new-born at the end of each year, so the girl should had been reported at the end of 1979 at the latest. Sometimes there were so many children born that it was hard to keep count, but that had not been the case in the years leading to Voldemort’s first death.

During the First Wizarding War kids were sacred… at least the pureblood ones. The Muggle-borns and half-blood were hunted and killed mercilessly. Some vampires and werewolves had aligned with the Dark Side and they were the ones responsible to eliminate all the kids that were not pure in every sense of the word. Muggles had not known what was happening in the country, but even they could sense in the most primitive part of their instincts that that was not a good time to have children.

So it was a mystery why Capella was not contacted or even registered at the Ministry as a magical child.

There was no Capella Morgen Black in the records beyond the school logs regarding her birth.

That name had haunted since the day Sirius had told her it. It had taken her at least an hour to calm the Auror at the reaction she had had when that name had exited his lips. No, she was right, she had told him, just a little pain in her wrist that had bothered her since she had helped defeat Voldemort, she had said.

_Morgen._

That was the name that had provided her nightmares for days. The name that was so cursed, so stained. A name that represented the very first witch that had used her magic for the greatest evil. A name so known yet so uncommon. A name that had become popular for the last seven months.

That was the name that the press had granted the most important person in her life.

That was the name her little Neenie had been dubbed.

That was the name Voldemort had yelled when he had seen _her_ Hermione.

Capella Morgen Black and Hermione Jean McGonagall were not the same witch, right? Right?!

They needed to make the students use the Name Potion. She needed to be sure she was wrong. She needed to be sure her baby was not Voldemort’s.

The tired Headmistress sighed again glad to finally reach the door to her office. She was ready to collapse in a minute. Her meeting with the Ministry had ended sooner than she had expected, but that was okay. It was great even, because she really needed time to herself, time to think and regroup her ideas. And she surely did not need to deal with any kind of trouble right now.

But of course the powers to be were not okay with her wishes. She sighed yet again as she slowly made her way to the door that lead to her personal rooms when she was distracted by voices. Voices in her personal office. Voices she knew, knew too well.

Minerva groaned. _‘Why, oh Merlin, why she won’t behave for just a couple of months?’_

XxXxX

She stared at the entrance of the Common Room, waiting. School had started for a month and a half now and they had yet to see her.

Loony Lovegood had not been seen in Ravenclaw for as long as that. No. For longer than that. Loony’s disappearance act had begun the weekend before the holidays started. She remembered well, that night the girl had been striped and tossed out the Tower. It had been the night when the charm’s stones had been broken, the coldest night they had ever had in the castle.

Nobody knew where the kid was, but they all missed her. They missed making the girl cry. They missed making fun of her. They missed the pranks they could come up with, each on better than the last, each one of them Claws trying to outdo the other.

For a moment they had thought that maybe the girl had finally given up, that she had asked to go home and the Headmistress had agreed. They were not concerned about being punished, no, Professor Flitwick did not like the blonde either, and as powerful as the Headmistress was, she could not punish students without proof _and_ without the Head of House support. Having none the stern witch could not touch them.

So they did not know what had happened to Loony, but they were just a tad disappointed when they had thought the girl had gone home. There would no longer be something to entertain them. Sure the girl disappeared on them just before holidays, but the blonde was not known to hide for longer than the night. She always came back to her dorm, looking for clothes and her school things. They had not seen her for the whole weekend, up until she had boarded the Express to go home in the company of no other than Morgen.

The fifth year Gryffindor had been always a sore topic for the Ravenclaws. There was no reason for the smartest witch of the century to be sorted in such an idiotic house. The Weasleys, Potter, Longbottom, the Creeveys… the ones that were considered the dumbest were all Gryffindors, it was just a shock Crabbe and Goyle were not Cubs.

They were the cleverest House, but it had taken them by surprise when Morgen had actually met with the strange girl and her stranger father to take the Express back to school. The Claws that had been there for the meeting swore that the brunette had actually talked like them and that she had _embraced_ the odd Lovegood patriarch.

It had been a greater surprise the moment they all went back to the Tower after the feast, ready to start the term with a good party and a miserable Loony, when they noticed the girl was nowhere to be seen. Her roommates told them her things were not there and it did not took them that long to finally realize the girl was no coming back.

“She’s certainly with that stupid Morgen…”

“Cho, did you say something?”

The Scottish witch blinked, her gaze never leaving the entrance. Loony was not coming, but she was so not going to escape them, no. Cho Chang loved making the girl miserable and just because she was no longer sleeping nearby was she going to stop being her main source of amusement.

 

# Chapter Twenty-Two – A Different Kind of Love

“I hate you right now.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“What?!”

“Oh, come on, it really wasn’t that bad.”

Luna glared at her friend from her position in the floor, just in front of their lit fireplace. She was lying on her stomach, the warmth from the flames was comforting for her chilled skin, but not so much for her backside. “It’s your fault she was mad and you’re not even just a little sorry?”

Hermione shrugged, she was laying in a similar position a top their loveseat. “Nah, she really went easy on us. On you more than me.”

The blonde shook her head utterly speechless. Not an hour ago this very same girl had been crying her eyes out face-down in her Mama’s lap. The Headmistress had been utterly angry at them for being in her personal office, idea of her lovely companion, after she had specifically told the older girl that said office was off limits more than once. McGonagall had punished them as she had always punished her daughter and in this case Luna had received her own share of Scottish fire, though she was glad to notice that it was Hermione the one that faced the blunt of her anger. “You enjoy way too much your spankings.”

The brunette blushed a nice shade of red. “I do not!”

The second year simply looked at her with a blank expression. “They pray tell me why you enjoy getting yourself in so much trouble.”

Hermione scoffed. “No one likes to be in trouble.”

“You do.”

“I don’t!”

“Really? Who was the one that got herself punished because of a stupid troll? Who was the one that got herself in trouble for a small dragon? The one that actually went against a three-headed dog? Who was stupid enough to try and defeat several traps in her first year, when she was so new at magic? Huh? Tell me please, who was the one that got herself turned into a kitten? The one that stole from Snape’s personal supply and also stole a book from the Restricted Section? Who-”

“Luna, stop.” The brunette sighed. “I get you point.”

“I wasn’t even half way through the list, you know?”

“I know.”

“Then why? Why do you enjoy breaking rules?”

Hermione frowned. “I don’t. I just do things without actually thinking, you know?”

The other girl sighed. "I know you're a Gryffindor, Gryffindors don’t think before acting, you know you are actually the only voice of reason in your house, but sometimes I wonder if you're not only seeking Minerva's attention." The Headmistress was always busy and more often than not they did not see her for days other than their meals at the Great Hall. This term had been especially busy and Hermione had not spend time with her mother since their Christmas Break. Luna was not blind, the brunette missed her Mama.

"..."

"Neenie?"

The brunette looked at her friend with sorrowful eyes. The deep of her bronze orbs made Luna's blood run cold. "When I was young I never really have a mother, you know? I was always with my Grandmama, she was the one who taught me read and write and made sure I went to school. She was practically rich and had some business, so when I was out of school I was always with her, learning how to manage them, how to make money. I never really saw Mr and Mrs Granger, th- don't give me that look, Luna, I refuse to call them anything else."

"They are your parents, Neenie."

"Parents love you. Parents teach you. I was ignored by them all the time, only once a week did I see them, when Grandmama made sure that Saturdays after dinner we spent some family time. We had to sit for an hour at the dinner table, waiting for someone to say something, anything, just to feel relieved when the hour was up and all of us could leave without Grandmama getting angry.” The older girl chuckled sadly. “Nobody made Grandmama angry.”

“Either way, I never had parents, Luna. I’m sure they never loved me. I never received a kiss, or a hug from them. There were no Christmas or birthday’s gifts. They never attend my plays or my debate competitions. They are nothing to me, Luna. My so called mother, Candice, was disowned when she got pregnant out of marriage, my Grandmama forced my ‘father’, Richard, to marry her and do the honorable thing. I am an accident, and I cost them their lives, I am an accident they tried to ignore as they ignored each other. I don’t even know why it hurts this much knowing they simply left, even knowing for certain that I don’t matter to them, but also knowing that they’re out there, living their bloody lives happy without me, and I’m sure each took their own path, but Mama…” Hermione trailed off, her eyes downcast and filled with sadness, but there were no tears, as she refused to keep crying over them, no matter how much it still hurt.

“She cares.” Luna nodded. She could not understand what it was not to have parents that loved her, nor having only a grandmother who took care of her, because she had had both her parents for years, and although her daddy was sometimes absentminded and a little out of himself, she knew he still loved her, just as her Momma had always loved her. Not having loving parents was a strange notion for her, but it was something she could respect. From the corner of her eye she saw how the portrait of the Baron opened, but her friend was far too gone in her tale to take notice.

“Aye.”

“So you do stupid things why?” She could understand how Hermione loved her Mama, yet she could not understand why she kept getting herself in trouble. The brunette was still none the wiser of the new occupant of the room.

“She cares, Luna.” With a little difficulty the older girl sat herself fully, wincing when the movement reminded her of her Mama’s anger. “Before I came here I had no one. My Grandmama was killed shortly after I turned ten, so I had to fend for myself for almost two years. But as much as my Grandmama spent time with me, took care of me, I’m not sure she loved me either. She made sure I was safe and had the skills I needed to take over her business, yet more often than not I felt the same when I was with her than what I felt with my school teachers and tutors, they were there just to guide me through a series of motions and lessons. But Mama cares, she’s interested in what I want to do, what I enjoy, what is my favorite color and why I’m sad or happy.” She smiled softly. “I was taught to never disobey but to always think before acting and behaving according my necessities, my wants. I had no friends because Grandmama thought they were simply distracting, but I was allowed to spend time with kids my age to learn to manipulate them, to use them. I enjoyed it. I knew no better. I learnt what she taught me and I was never wrong in her eyes. The only mistakes I ever did were regarding her business and if I did something to lose money or trade partners I was taught about my mistake and had to work one way or another to fix it, but I was never scolded or punished.

“When I came to Hogwarts I was the same Hermione I was taught to be. I was really no better than Malfoy, but I was most clever, more subtle. I was going to rule this school, starting by the teachers. The Sorting hat was hesitant on making me a Slytherin, but he finally decided to send me to Gryffindor. I did not understand it at the time, but now I know it was the best thing that could ever happen to me. It was the first time I was surrounded by people my age all the day and that made me realize that people could actually have friendships without trying to get something out of them, that there was something different out there.”

Luna blinked. For as long as they had ever talked, this was the very first time that Hermione had actually told her something about her time before Hogwarts that did not exactly connected with the lessons her grandmother taught her. What she was hearing scared her and she knew that this was not something her friend would want the Headmistress to know. “Neenie…”

The brunette did not hear her because she simply kept talking. “I always wanted to have a friend and I thought that Harry was my best option, not because he was famous, or rich, or even popular, but because I had known by then that he was as parentless as I was. I thought that we had something in common, but I was mistaken. He was more normal than I was and he already had a friend, Ron. Ron was the one that made me realize I was totally different, he was always so vocal with his dislike for me and his beliefs. He called me names and everybody simply laughed agreeing with him. It was the first time in my life that I was teased, nobody in my primary school dared to cross me because they knew I was rich and I was more than able to make them pay. I went to Mama and asked her to send me home, I didn’t belong here, with normal kids, I was to be in the world, taking care of my Grandmama’s business and studying to be the greatest Tycoon ever… but she wouldn’t let me go.” She blinked slowly, two fat drops falling from her eyes. “She talked to me, Luna, and made me understand the reasons why I was to stay, that I needed to adapt, to learn.”

“I remember feeling elated; she was the first person to actually comfort me, to tell me that everything would be alright. She held me, Luna, she freaking hugged me, nobody had ever done that to me, and let me cry on her shoulder. I felt loved. Two days later the stupid Troll almost killed me and I feared that I had lost her, she was so angry, so mad and so, so disappointed that when she asked me to go with her I was sure I was as good as expelled. Oh, Merlin, that’s no true, I was so scared that _I_ had angered the only person to show me any kind of affection that I was ready to do anything in my power to appease her, I was ready to beg, crawl, be expelled, anything to fix my mistake. I was surprised when she told me which was going to be my punishment and I didn’t hesitate to take it, because, well, maybe if I’d let her do whatever she wanted to me she’d forgive me. After she spanked me I felt the lighter I’ve ever felt and when she held me in her lap I knew that everything would be alright, that she cared.”

The older girl smiled, the tears falling with earnest, somber at telling her the reasons she had reached when asking herself the very same thing Luna had asked her. “You asked me why I do stupid things, right? I had never known the love she has for me; there are times when I wonder if its real, if this’s not a cruel dream. I think I sometimes I just need to remind myself that she’s there, that she _really_ cares, and there’s no other time that she cares the most than when I do something wrong.”

“That’s not true.” A new voice echoed in the room.

Hermione jumped, truly scared. That was so not her Mama’s voice. Her bronze eyes made contact with her friend’s pale blue ones. She saw how her Luna looked at her with sadness and a little regret. A warm hand rested on her shoulder, making her flinch, not knowing what she had done to have her Mama hear what she just confessed. “I’m sorry.” The words were out her mouth before she even registered it.

The Headmistress sat at her side, her hand running across her back and allowing her to embrace her by her shoulders. “What for?”

The brunette shrugged. She was sorry for many things, but mainly for being so reckless and stupid when it came to the two most important persons in her life. She knew Luna and her Mama where not hers, that they could get angry at her at any minute and leave, and she still made mistakes that could easily sent them away.

“Hermione?”

Said girl took a shaky breath and forced her tears to stop. She knew that if she voiced her fears Minerva would think her stupid, would finally understand that there was no reason to be around her, that she was too weak to be actually loved. And there it was, she had called her Hermione, not Neenie, not baby, just Hermione. “I’m sorry I’m always making you angry.” ‘ _At me. I’m sorry I’m so stupid, I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment. I’m sorry I’m so weak. I’m sorry I’m broken.’_ “I promise it’ll never happen again.”

Minerva felt how her heart was stabbed. Yes, she had been angry with the girls and the Morgen matter was not helping her nerves, but she was no longer angry at her baby girl as she had received her punishment and like always she had been forgiven after that. The girl did not make her angry often, just frustrated and worried, it was her job to punish her when she did something wrong, it was something she _wanted_ to do to make sure her girl would be the wonderful woman she could be. With sad eyes she saw how her daughter’s face, that had been so filled with pain when she had first entered her rooms, was now a blank canvas, void of emotion and much too serene. “Look at me.”

Gathering her courage the girl complied. From the corner of her eye she saw how Luna inched her way out the sitting room to the bedroom they had been sharing for the last six weeks, and she was grateful. She could not bear knowing the younger girl was around if she crumbled before the older witch at any minute.

“I love you, Hermione, with all my heart, and no matter what you do or how you behave, I’ll never stop loving you.”

Hermione stared at her, her deep brown eyes dancing with barely concealed tears, yet she did not move. Her mind was playing tricks with her again. The nightmares her mind came up with at night, the ones that forced her to drink Dreamless Tonic, were not enough, no, it had to play with the love she craved from the older woman. As much as the brunette had said those words to Luna and vice versa, Minerva had never said them to her and there was no reason for her to start now. In fact, that time on the train when both she and Luna were fretting with the possibility of never seeing each other again, just after confessing to Minerva she was parentless, had been the very first time she had been told those three words. Yes, she knew the Headmistress liked her, and that she liked her enough to adopt her, but as the rest of the teachers had been showing her for days now, having her as family was just a bust of status and power.

She had been hearing and seeing the same things over and over again in the past weeks. The staff had been showing her several possibilities, several opportunities that having them as ‘parents’ could present her. They had showed her how it was impossible for the never caring Minerva McGonagall to actually like her, they had facts, they had stories, they had memories that had been showed to her that attested the older woman was incapable of feeling for another. Some were bullshit, some were simply a sad attempt, but then, there were the few ones that rang true with her and her insecurities. A big part of her believed them now.

Even before the staff had started hunting her and trying to convince her, she could not understand how the Headmistress could even like her when nobody did. She had friends, true, but she had always known that her friendships could end at any minute, and though they would hurt her beyond words when they ended, she was resigned to that. No one lasted, no one was constant and no one stayed behind with her, no nameless kids that played with her back in primary school, no drama or etiquette tutors, no Harry, no Ron, no mother, no father, no Grandmama, even Luna was not guaranteed if she kept acting stupid. And, as her own history had showed her, she was always the responsible no one stayed around. Why would Minerva want her?

“Hermione?”

The brunette simply closed her eyes. She could not think like that, no. This woman in front her had done everything in her power to have her, to make sure that she was right. She had helped her learn to control her power and her magic and had gone great lengths to ensure she was safe. She had to pull several strings to ensure she was in her care, she had been so proud when the girl had asked to adopt her last name. This woman loved her. Just as she loved this woman. She could not let her insecurities dictate her actions, she needed to follow her heart and stop imagining things. She needed to be true to herself and to Minerva. She opened her eyes and tears started pouring from them again. She looked at the older witch, for the first time in her life letting all her emotions show in her bottomless chocolate eyes. “Mommy?”

One half of the stern Headmistress’ heart shattered at the use of that word, the stabbing she had been feeling was more of a caress compared to this breath-taking, stomach revolving, pain. The other half was blown apart at all the vulnerability and the love she saw in her baby’s eyes. Never in all her years had she hoped to have someone call her that. And never, in her wildest dreams, she had hoped to have such a wonderful daughter. Her own tears started falling as she gathered the younger witch in her lap, holding on her for dear life. “Yes, my dear Neenie, yes. I love you so, so much, my little girl.”

The smartest witch of the century simply let herself being rocked, hiding her face in the crook of the elder’s neck as the heavy sobs wracked through her body. “I love you, too, Mommy.”

 

# Chapter Twenty-Three – Ice and Snow

“Bloody hell!”

“Hermione!”

The brunette blushed at being chastised by her younger friend. “Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly. “I just remember we forgot my memory at Mama’s office.”

Luna looked at her with widening eyes, her quill stopping in mid-sentence. The two witches had been doing their homework the morning after Minerva and Hermione had had their bonding. After hours of talking and reassuring each other the two Gryffindors had managed to bury many insecurities and questions. They had talked for the first time of what each of them needed of the other and what they expected from the relationship.

Minerva had promised to spend more time with the girl and to reassure her more often of the love she held for her. Hermione had promised to stop being such an attention-seeking brat and to seek the older woman when she felt the need to do something reckless. And both had promised to shower little Luna in gifts and hugs for the help she had been giving Hermione in both her new daughterhood and friend-hood.

“You think she’ll watch it?”

Hermione nodded. “Yeah, if only to see which memory we were trying to watch.”

Luna snickered. “You think she thought we were going through her memories?”

The brunette snorted. “Yeah, I think that’s why she was so upset… I know there are some pretty personal ones in her cabinet.”

“And how would you know?”

The older witch simply blushed and returned to her essay. That was the only answer Luna needed to burst out laughing. “Oh, shut up…” She grumbled. She did not want to remember the very first time she had stumbled across her Mama’s memories and her Pensive.

Hermione, being Hermione, had to simply investigate such a complex artifact up close. Having no memories of her own she had simply chosen one of the older woman’s. She had done that when she had been in third year and she still could not erase such images from her mind. If kids got scarred when walking on their parents, she did not know why she had not seek professional help after seeing her Mama in quiet a compromising situation with a rather handsome wizard so up close.

Once she calmed down Luna returned to her own essay. “What are we doing with you memory?”

Hermione shrugged. “Let Mama watch it, I know she’ll return it to me afterwards.”

“You don’t mind? That she watches a memory so painful to you?”

“Nah, she was there… and I guess part of me wants her to know how I saw the whole thing.” She sighed when the last word of her essay finally dried. She rolled her Potions parchment and secured it on her satchel. “You finished?”

Luna shook her head and quickly wrote the last paragraph of her Transfiguration report. She did not even wait for the ink to dry to roll it and put it away in her own school bag. “Done!”

Hermione smiled, as much as Luna had managed to do her homework on her own in the last month and a half, she still disliked it with a passion only rival to Ron’s. “You’ve done everything?”

“Yes.” The younger girl nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve finished the rest yesterday morning.”

The older witch smiled and with a swift wave of her hand the map than hung above the fireplace was transformed in a rather complex clock with several hands and no numbers, just runes. “Mmm, it’s quite early.” She murmured glancing at it with a critical eye. “And it snowed last night… do you want to go to Hogsmeade?”

The blonde blinked. “I’m a second year and it’s not even a Hogsmeade weekend.”

The brunette smirked and Luna’s blood ran cold. “So?” With another wave of her hand the now clock returned to be a map, only this time it was an improved replica of the Marauders’ Map, not that Luna recognized it. Just concentrating in it the secret passages the school had were highlighted, some in red and some in green. “The green ones show the passages that lead out of school and that we can use without tipping off Mama.” Standing up she pointed at one not far from they were, just behind a portrait of a small kitty playing with a ball of wool. “This one led us near Hogsmeade’s platform.”

“Neenie…” Luna’s voice held just a tint of warning as she got up her place in the table and stood beside her friend. Did this girl have forgotten what happened to her and her mother just twelve hours ago?

Hermione just smirked. “Just kidding, honey, I’m not that crazy.”

The blonde snorted. “I wouldn’t say crazy per se… maybe just stupid.”

The brunette gasped, a hand coming to her chest as if wounded. “You… you called me stupid?”

“Yes I did.”

Hermione did not even try to answer to that, she simply pounced the girl and tackled her to the soft carpet of their sitting room and began tickling her merciless, much to the delight of Porthos who was watching them play around from his frame in between some of their books specially placed so he could tell them if they had visitors. Pearly laugh echoed in the room as the blonde cried out in helpless mirth. The brunette kept her attack only a couple of minutes, though, because her new position in the floor made her even with the pile of discarded clothes that somehow always managed to end beneath the table. She saw one of her Gryffindor ties and she was remembered of something she wanted to ask her Little Moon. “Say, Luna,” She asked as the blonde regained her breath. “Did you do something with my robes and tie?”

“W-What?” Luna croaked, her chest still heaving with her excitement.

“Did you do something with my robes and tie? They are not as bright as always.”

The younger witch frowned and looked at where Hermione was looking. Sure enough, the tie she was seeing was a little grey around the edges and the lion was a bit too dull, nothing like the bright colors that adorned every Gryffindor student. “I didn’t do anything.” She replied a little forcefully. Why was Hermione making her responsible for something she did not do?

The brunette hummed, choosing to ignore the indignant tone of the blonde. “I asked Sniffles and she didn’t know. I thought maybe you’d know.” She shrugged. “Don’t get offended love, I don’t care, I was just curious.”

Luna hummed back as she played with the little pendant that Hermione sometimes wore beneath her clothes and had escaped from its confines while they were roughhousing around. She really did not touch her clothes. Unless she counted the times she took off Hermione’s top at night while the older girl was sleeping.

XxXxX

“Hey, Harry, wait up!”

Harry groaned. He just wanted a day, just a day away from everybody, from his fame and his so called friends. He was tired of always hearing people talk about him or people trying to ease their way into his pants… yes, he had helped defeat Voldemort, he had been the one to actually send the last killing curse, but he had not done it alone.

He turned and saw that it was Cho Chang running to him, again. The girl he had been so enamored with last year was now a perfect example of the fan girls he so wanted to avoid. “Cho, what’s the matter?” He really did not want to talk to the superficial witch.

“Harry!” She exclaimed happily. “We Claws are planning a party and we were wondering if you’d like to come?”

The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice blinked confused. That was new. It was the first time Cho had actually asked him something somewhat politely and had not demanded him to date her. There was just a little problem. “Sure, where it’ll be?” A little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Hermione whispered to him to take care with this witch.

Cho smiled her perfect teeth in display like the Cheshire Cat. “In Ravenclaw Tower, of course.”

Harry grimaced as if truly pained while in his mind he was cheering at that little bit of information. “Sorry Cho, I can’t go there.”

The Asiatic witch tilted her head confused. “Why not?”

It was Harry’s time to tilt his head in confusion. “Haven’t you read the school’s Rule Book?” He asked in amazement. “We are from different Houses, Cho, that’s means we can’t go to each other Houses without breaking article ninety-nine.”

“Article ninety-nine?”

“Yeah, the one that says that only members of a specific House can enter said House’s Rooms. It also says something along the lines that no one from another House can enter another without alerting the Headmaster, or Headmistress, immediately.” The voice that sounded like Hermione in the back of his head was telling him how proud it was of him to remember a rule the brunette had drilled in both him and Ron when they started being friends with the other Houses.

“You are making that one up.” The proud Claw said. There was no article ninety-nine… in fact, there was no Rule Book.

“Actually, he isn’t.” A soft voice called to them from behind Harry.

The boy instantly smiled and turned to face the new addition to the conversation. “Mione! Luna!” He saw with little surprise the girl that was walking hand in hand with his friend. Those two were practically joined at the hip nowadays.

The petite blonde blushed at being recognized by him, not because he was a celebrity, no, she was best friends with one of those, but because she was still getting used to be talked to like she was a human being. Her blush only lasted a second before she paled at the glare the Ravenclaw was shooting her.

“Harry, Cho.” The Gryffindor girl nodded to each of them as they neared the duo, slightly giving the older witch a glare of her own. Her blood boiled when her Luna hid behind her when they finally came to a stop. She had heard the things that stupid Asian witch had done to her beloved friend, but, unfortunately Luna had begged her not to harm the other girl when she had first heard the pranks she had pulled on the blonde. “He isn’t making that one up, though is article ninety-three, not ninety-nine. Article ninety-nine deal with the ghost bullying and the rules we have to avoid molesting them.”

The Claw scoffed. Morgen was just a wannabe Ravenclaw, she was too shallow to be in the Greatest of the Houses, so she had been simply sorted in lowly Gryffindor. “Really? I’d like to see that, please.”

The brunette shrugged. “Sure, but I left my copy of the Rule Book in my Mama’s office.” She smiled wickedly at the fidgeting that tiny bit of information caused. “I’m sure she won’t mind us four going there and seeking the article, maybe she’d be free enough to actually tell you about it.”

The older witch just sniffed. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary, thank you.” She turned at Harry and gave him a rather coy smile that only made his skin crawl. “Perhaps another time then, eh, Harry?”

He gulped. “Sure, Cho.”

With that older witch kept walking forward, pausing to sneer at Luna and discretely point her wand to the blonde. She was ready to cast a quick hex when she noticed that her wand was covered in thick ice that glued it to her hand.

“Don’t even think about it, Chang.” Morgen said coldly.

The Claw looked alarmed at the Gryffindor girl’s eyes that were now a dark blue, almost black. She did not need to be a genius to gather that the ice had been a gift from the fifth year. Still, maybe Ravenclaw was not House of the smartest, because the girl actually tried to use the frozen wand to curse Hermione, only to realize that her arm was now the one covered in ice, as were both her legs.

Morgen, the damned Morgen sneered at her. “Stop it, foolish girl, you are not match to me.” The voice was not the same if the Hermione they all knew and some loved, no. The voice was deep and held years of power and wisdom that made the Asian witch cower in fear.

“Neniee…” Luna’s quiet voice broke the heavy tension in the Hallway.

Hermione’s lip quivered in disgust. “Fine!” She conceded after a full minute. With a wave of her hand the Ravenclaw was free of ice, just her wand remaining frozen. “Get out of here!” She yelled and the Asian witch obeyed her without hesitation, disappearing quickly around a corner.

“Nargles are bad, they shouldn’t hurt Wrackspurts.” The blonde chided gently.

With a sigh Hermione let her shoulders drop dramatically. “You really should let me kill her. Nobody would find the body, I assure you.”

“Hermione Jean!” This time Luna’s voice scolded her harshly.

The brunette winced. She so did not like when Luna called her by both her names. “Just kidding, just kidding!” She quickly assured her. She would continue defending her case, though, when a snickering interrupted her.

“Oh, dear,” Harry said, mirth dancing in his eyes. “That was fabulous!”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, not impressed. “What was? Me beating Cho? Or Luna berating me?”

The boy smirked. “Both.” He was answered with face-full of water “Hey! No water fights indoors!” He yelled as soon as he cleaned his glasses of the offending wetness, yet he smiled. Hermione’s fast wand was what made her the most proficient dueler at the school. After she had learn that dueling was her weakest point the girl had spent several weeks training in order to be quick with her wand and his face full of water was prove enough of that and apparently she had improved since Voldemort died as he did not remember her being quite so fast.

The older witch sniffed dismissively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Luna simply shook her head amused. She was, too, used at Hermione’s little quirks and playfulness. The other girl was being rather comfortable around Harry, so maybe the boy was not a bad lad. Turning to him she asked as she interlaced her fingers with Hermione’s. “Nargles and Pixiecakes are building a snowman… would Firetrots join?”

Harry looked perplexed at her. Loony Lovegood had a reputation of talking all crazy and inventing imaginary creatures and that made her an easy target to many. But he was being truthful in the train when he had told Hermione that he wanted to meet the strange blonde. Maybe this could be a good place to start as he had the hunch she was simply inviting him to play in the snow. “Sure, I’d like to build a snowman.”

Both girls blinked at him owlish, truly amazed as how the boy that used to be clueless in his best days was actually answering the little witch correctly. They did not comment on that, though, they had a snowman waiting for them to be built.

As they left the corridor in pursuit of colder and fluffier lands, they did not notice the shadow lurking just around the corner they passed in their way to the Entrance Hall. If they had noticed, they would have seen the billowing black robes of a spy looking at them with barely concealed hunger and not a little of excitement. Maybe his Master would be nice enough to let him play a little more now that he had information he was sure his Master would love.

XxXxX

Cho Chang growled as she entered the Ravenclaw Common Room in a hurry. ‘ _Stupid Morgen and stupid Loony._ _They think they can rule the castle, but no… they don’t know what it’s coming for them.’_

“Hey, Cho, what happened to your wand?”

The Asian witch smirked quietly. She faced Marietta Edgecome and turned her smirk into a frown. “Granger and Loony attacked me!”

“What!” The girl’s scream gathered the attention of all the other Claws hanging around the room.

“Yes! They saw me and attacked me!” She was not going to confess that she had been the one to start the fight nor that she had been handled her own ass with wandless magic.

“We should tell Professor Flitwick!” Isobel MacDougal cried in anger. Chorus of agreement were heard for a moment before Cho interrupted them.

“No!” She said loudly to calm everyone. “No, she is the Headmistress’ pet, telling on her would do nothing.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Terry Boot asked with concern as he eyed to still frozen wand. Fortunately it was no longer stuck to the girl’s hand.

The Asian witch just frowned. “I’ll hurt the little bitch some way or another.”

Most of the Claws stopped at that declaration. Pranking and tormenting was one thing, but to actually hurt was something most of them did not want to be involved with. They started gathering their things; they would not be around to be charged with things they did not want to know. Only three students were left once the rest made their escapes, those three the most loyal to the Asian witch.

That did not matter to Cho, no, both Loony and Morgen would fall and she would be the one to make them crack. She snickered, her plans were simply delightful.

Hurt Luna and Morgen would soon follow.

 

# Chapter Twenty-Four - Jealousy

“Thank you, ‘Mione, I really needed this.”

The brunette smiled lightly as she kept running her fingers through the sprawled flaxen hair in her lap. “You’re welcome, Harry.”

They were sitting, or in in the blonde’s case, lying, in the sitting room of Hermione’s and Luna’s private rooms, just chilling after a long day of hanging out in the snow. Their tired limbs were being warmed by the gentle fire and their red faces ache from smiling and laughing so much.

“And thank you, too, Luna, I haven’t had this much fun since before the school started.” The boy grinned, sipping his cup of chocolate happily.

The blonde smiled a toothy smile from her favorite spot in their loveseat, namely Hemione’s thighs. “I had fun too.”

That simple phrase made the brunette’s smile widened. Luna had opened up to Harry as the day had progressed and the boy had been really charming and noble to her, knowing full well that Luna was often teased and pranked. He had done his best to understand the blonde’s strange way of talking and had even started speaking in a similar way, prompting melodious laughter out of Luna and herself.

Luna had stopped speaking in riddles shortly before twilight and had simply let herself have fun in the snow with her best friend and the boy she had always found cute, just as she found little kittens cute. They had spent hours building a small army of snowmen and had fun watching how Hermione animated them to fight a mini war with small snow-catapults and ice arrows.

Harry simply smiled; he had wanted to speak with Luna ever since he saw her on her Sorting Ceremony. Something about her had reminded him of Hermione, the same lonely stare, the same haunted eyes, the same intelligent spark. He was glad the girl was not as stupid as Ginny had made her look, but that she was simply highly imaginative. “And thank you for the chocolate, I missed it.”

At the blonde’s quizzical stare Hermione chuckled. “Harry and I used to sneak to the kitchens and have hot chocolate… though he likes his with milk rather than water.”

The little witch felt a sharp pang in her stomach. Knowing Hermione used to drink chocolate with somebody else did not sit well with her. “Water is better.” She said a little too harshly.

The boy snickered, high on sugar and happiness at being near the friend he so sorely had missed. “Nah, I like mine sweeter and water just simply lacks that creamy feeling.”

“There are many things you like sweeter, ain’t, Harry?” The brunette burst out laughing, referring at the boy’s stupid sweet tooth and childish habit of eating all kind of pastries rather than food when possible.

Luna frowned at the comment her Hermione had just made. The pang in her stomach grew more painful. She knew both her companions were part of the Golden Trio, and that Harry and Hermione had known each other for five years now and that they had many adventures in common, but that did not make her feel any better. It actually made her feel worse.

“You know it, darling.” He said with a wink and that stupid charming smile.

That did it for the little witch. In a swift motion she was on her feet and had marched to the entrance of their sitting room. Without looking back she was gone, startling a formerly-sleeping Baron and leaving two confused Gryffindors behind.

“Did I do something wrong?” Harry asked after a minute of stunning silence.

Hermione sighed. “No, Harry.” She smiled sadly. “I did.” She closed her eyes and let herself rest boneless on the soft loveseat both she and Luna loved. She knew the little blonde would get jealous at some point, but she really did not think it would be this soon or that the girl would flee. She should have been more considerate of the little blonde’s fears and feelings; she should not have acted so freely with Harry before speaking with the girl, before reassuring her that Harry was just a friend. The problem was that Luna had acted as comfortable as them and that had made the brunette forget about all the insecurities she knew Luna still held.

“Maybe I should go.” He said quietly as he started to stand up.

“No.” The witch’s commanding voice made him sit again. “Its past curfew and you’re hopeless at sneaking around without your Cloak.”

“But Luna-”

“Is my responsibility.” She interrupted. “I’ll take care of her, don’t worry, okay?” She stood up and stretched. She was not worried for the girl, her own map of the castle showed every living creature in the school pretty much the same way the Marauder’s Map did, so locating the girl would be no problem. “We have a guest room you can crash in.”

Harry blinked. He had noticed that there were only four doors in the room, one he was sure lead to the kitchen as he had helped Hermione do the chocolate, and the other led to the bathroom, a place he had visited as soon as they were back. So that left two doors that surely meant there were two bedrooms. If one of those was a guestroom, and there were two persons living in the same rooms… “Thanks, ‘Mione. I’d like that.”

The witch smiled softly and waited for him to follow her to the room that had been designated to be Luna’s. The girl had never gotten around to use it, though, preferring to sleep in the same bed as Hermione’s and deciding to use half her dressing table and half her wardrobe for her things, so they had simply decided to leave it as a guestroom should the need arose. “Sleep tight, Harry.” She said once the boy had been showed to his bed for the night and she had gotten the small fireplace going. “I’ll wake you up in the morning.”

“Sweet dreams, ‘Mione.” He said softly as his friend left to go find the little blonde runaway.

XxXxX

The woman let out a heavy sigh. A month, it had taken a whole month for the ingredients and supplies arrive from all the way from Japan. Boxes upon boxes were piled in her office, all of them containing the necessary elements to create the Namae Suiyaku.

Minerva shook her head. She had told Severus that she wanted the students to learn how to make the Name Potion thanks to a generous donation that a former student had done of the ingredients. She had not told him that that student was Sirius, or that there was another, deeper, reason as to why they needed the students to learn the Japanese potion.

The Headmistress and the Auror had decided that in order to not rise suspicious they would ask the whole school to learn at the same time, pretty much something like a master class held in the Great Hall. The instructions were easy to follow, easy enough for even first years to do it without too much monitoring. However, if there was a Black in the school she would not like to broadcast it to the whole student and staff body, maybe she would not go down that road.

Especially if her suspicious were correct and her daughter ended being the biological heir of both Voldemort and the Black family. She would not do that to her Hermione.

She knew her frisky daughter knew nothing of that, _if_ she was Capella Black. The brunette believed that the Grangers were her parents and so the Headmistress had done up until Sirius’ visit. Maybe she needed to talk to her about the Grangers, about her life before Hogwarts. She knew little of it and she was only slightly aware of how she had lived thanks to the discussion she had overheard the other day between her girl and Luna. She needed to make sure the girl was prepared for anything, for everything, _if_ she was the heir, but then again she could be wrong.

The stern witch sighed yet again. Her gut told her that her girl was the one they were looking for, but her heart would not believe that, no. She wanted to believe that Hermione was just hers, an untainted little Muggle-born, born of two despicable, but normal, parents. But even if the girl was Voldemort’s she would still love her, that was true enough.

The old woman looked back at the crates. She would ask Severus to start teaching the potion in the following weeks. They needed to know as soon as possible. She needed her baby to do the test, if only to finally confirm her deepest fear.

XxXxX

“Are you done sulking around?”

Luna swirled to glare at her. The brunette had been following her around the castle for an hour now. Every few minutes she would ask the very same question, trying to coax her to talk to her, to cease wandering around angry, to stop acting so childish. “Leave me alone!” she snarled.

Hermione simply growled back. She had tried talking to the fuming blonde, only to be ignored. She had tried holding her hand, her arm, heck, even her leg once, only for them to be yanked away forcefully. She had tried to apologize, several times in fact, only for the girl to start walking away, again. “Stop being a prat!” She was angry, oh so furious, with this little, obnoxious, kid.

“Me?! A prat?!” She asked awed. “You are the one acting so stupid!”

The brunette shook with barely concealed rage. Why was Luna acting so out of character? She could deal with a strange Luna, with a sad Luna, with a happy Luna, but not this strange green monster she had transformed into. “I’m not acting stupid, Luna! I was simply having fun with my friend!”

“ _I_ am your friend!”

“Yes! Yes you are.” Hermione cried exasperated. “But so are Harry, and Lavender, and Parvati, and Neville.” Why could not this girl understand that she was the most important friend in her life, but not the only? Maybe letting the girl have a compartment just for the two of them at the Express had been a mistake. She should had let Luna understand that she had other people in her life, sure, some who played really small parts on it and other rather big parts, and that she still enjoyed spending time with them from time to time.

“You said you would never leave!” Luna yelled, her own frustration seeping through her cry.

“Where did I go?! Luna, I’m right here!”

“You’ll leave soon enough!” It would start with a little time spent with Harry, then the older girl would want to hang out with Ron and Ginny and before she could realize it, the Gryffindor would be out her life for good.

“Hey! That’s not true, I’m not leaving you. You’re my friend.” Hermione said now truly alarmed. Luna’s way of thinking was too twisted for her own mind to follow but the results of it scared her beyond words. “How can’t you understand that?”

The blonde crossed her arms; the hurt in her chest intensifying at what she thought was a white lie the older girl was feeding her. Instead of letting her sorrow show, she decided to mask it with hot anger. “You left Harry and Ron.” She stated firmly. Let Hermione try to convince her she would not do the same to the younger witch.

The brunette chuckles humorlessly, saddened at how Luna saw their relationship. “They left _me_ , remember? They were the ones that decided that I wasn’t worth it.” How could Luna think about that like that? It was just too dumb to even consider it.

“Really? And then why would you still want to spent time with Harry?”

“Because he is my friend. I like him, Luna, as the brother I never had.” The older witch confessed a thing the blonde already knew.

“Why? Why did you forgive him?” The younger girl was getting exasperated; everything Hermione had told her only showed her that losing the brunette was a very probable possibility. If she could forgive Harry and accept him in her life again, there was a huge chance she would do the same with the others.

“Because friends fight, Luna, and then they make up or they leave and life goes on.” It had taken a lot to understand that herself, seeing as she had no friends before Harry and Ron. “I know you haven’t had a friend before, love, but that’s how things work.” She added gently, trying not to anger the fiery blonde any more.

It did not work. The anger and fear Luna had been carrying reached to her boiling point. _‘How dares she come talk about friends and fights?! She didn’t have any friends either for most of her life!’_ The girl felt as an iron fist clenched her heart at the words the Gryffindor had spoken and that only fueled the rage swirling within her. In a rare lapse of judgment her hurt spoke before she could stop it. “I may have no friends but at least my parents love me!” She roared.

Hermione took a step back, as if slapped. And that was just the way those words felt to her. A huge void grew on her heart and threatened to snap it in two. Maybe looking for Luna had been a mistake. Maybe this girl did not want her friendship as much as she wanted hers. Yes, maybe that was it, because for the life of it, Hermione could not fathom any other reason why Luna would hurt her so deeply, so painfully.

It took only a second for the blonde to register what had come out her mouth and for all the anger to leave her. She could not believe she had said that to the only person that had showed her love for the first time in years. The hurt and pain behind her friends eyes tore at her chest immediately, but those haunted eyes were shown to her for only a moment. Before she could speak or beg for forgiveness, the bronze eyes she had come to treasure shifted to a deep blue, almost black, and growing cold and hard, with no emotion peeking behind them.

Luna looked as her friend changed in front of her in an instant. Gone was the Hermione she loved, the one that wore her feelings on her sleeve, and was always quick to hug her and kiss her, only to be replaced by this blank-faced, emotionless, calculating witch. Her blood ran cold.

_‘Oh, Merlin, what have I done?!”_

%MCEPASTEBIN%%MCEPASTEBIN%


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where things spin to another direction for our lovely ladies. There's some regression by Luna's part and there's also a little bit of nursing. If this gross you out, sorry.

# Chapter Twenty-Five – I’m sorry

“Neenie… I-” Luna started apologizing, trying to change her Hermione back to the one she loved the most, only to be interrupted.

“It’s late.” The cold voice of the brunette washed over her, leaving her speechless. “We have classes tomorrow, you should head to bed.”

“But-” She was again interrupted when to older witch started walking away from her and towards their rooms.

“Come.” It was all she said and Luna had no choice but to obey that simple, commanding, word.

They walked in silence, not caring if they were spotted as they simply trekked down the hallways to their rooms. Hermione did not care if a professor caught them out past curfew, Luna could no longer lose points and she really could not care less if Gryffindor lost the House Cup. If they ended in detention it would not matter anyway, nothing could be as painful and hurtful than the hollow feeling she was carrying in her heart.

The younger girl simply followed her, her little frame shaking with cold and fear of what could happen next. Could she lose Hermione? Could she fix her mistake? She had been so stupid, using Hermione’s past and wounds to hurt her, to make her feel as the blonde was feeling. She was jealous, she could see that now, of Harry and his easy way of having fun with Hermione, and that had hurt her, hurt her more than she thought was healthy.

She was so lost in her thoughts and guilt that she jumped alarmed when a slight weight was dropped on her shoulders. She looked surprised at how Hermione’s robe was put around her petite frame with wandless magic and she finally let the tears fall. She had fled their rooms wearing only a pair of jeans, a short sleeved thermal and her socks while the castle was freezing. She did not know if she should feel relieved that the older girl was concerned she was cold or upset that the robe had been put on her with magic, preventing any kind of physical interaction between the two. “I’m sorry.” She finally whimpered in the dead of the night, her voice echoing in the sleeping castle.

The brunette nodded. She did not trust herself to speak. If she opened her mouth she was sure that she would either berate the girl or beg her to tell her why she had hurt her. She was moments from crying herself, and she knew that if she voiced something, anything, the tears would escape her and it would be impossible for her to stop them.

“Neenie?” Luna called to her with a barely heard voice. “I’m sorry.”

Hermione just nodded again.

“Neenie?” The blonde’s voice cracked. “Say something?”

The brunette only stopped walking; they had arrived to the portrait of Porthos. The Baron looked at them with barely concealed concern, but, blessed his soul, he did not ask any questions or made any comment.

“Cair Paravel.” The older witch’s voice was rough and scratchy, but both the portrait and the blonde could hear it perfectly, it only made Luna’s guilt grow. The Baron opened to them but Hermione only sidestepped, letting the younger girl enter first.

Luna silently crossed the threshold and walked into the sitting room, keeping her ears open to hear any sound the other girl made. She had expected to hear her taking her shoes, as it was her habit, or even sitting in their table, scratching the chair across the floor. But the only thing that she heard was heavy footsteps, footsteps that were quickly moving away.

With her heart in her throat, the blonde turned sharply to see the portrait swinging close, no Hermione to be seen. “No.” She whimpered. “No!”

In a flash she was leaving the room again, nearly knocking the perplexed Baron form his place in the wall. She looked both ways down the hall and it was not hard to see the retreating form of her dear friend. If she was still her friend. “No!” She yelled with all her might. “Don’t leave me!” The little blonde crumbled to the floor sobbing, knowing she had just lost the most important person in her life, yet, closing her eyes she had to keep calling. “I love you! Please! Please, please, please…” With each word of her new mantra her voice got quieter; the brunette would probably ignore her and keep walking, though, and the portraits would be the only ones hearing her begging.

She felt more than heard when a soft breath tickled her cheek just before two strong arms circled her by the shoulders. She did not need to see to know that her Hermione was back, that she was embracing her. With a heavy sob she launched to the older girl’s arms, hugging her by the neck and hiding her face in it. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She chanted, her voice breaking with emotion.

The brunette’s chest rose with a heavy sigh. “I know. I’m sorry too.” She replied softly. She had planned on asking Madam Pomfrey if she could sleep in the Infirmary for the night because she knew she could not last another second near the girl she loved and that had shattered her heart. But the way Luna had called to her, had showed her the fear she had of being abandoned, had changed her plans.

“Plea-se, d-don’t leave m-me, I’m so, so s-sorry.” The blonde hiccupped on her neck, leaving damp strains where her tears connected with her skin.

“I know.” The older witch replied quietly. She knew the girl had been mad, that she had wanted to make her feel bad, but it had been so painful that she was still trying to understand why she was even holding the girl that had hurt her. No, that was not true, she knew why. “I love you, Luna.”

The second year just let a wail out of deep pain, deep regret. Hermione was still the same noble witch she had always been, and she had been the one to stab her in the heart, to throw at her face a fact that had made the older girl insecure about her life, about herself. Yet, this marvelous girl, this amazing woman, was still holding her and reassuring her of the love she held for her. “L-love you t-too.”

“Come on, love. Let’s go to bed.” In a swift motion the smaller girl was made featherlight and was being carried like a small child, all wrapped around Hermione.

Porthos had kept the entrance open and they did not need to wait to reenter the rooms. The brunette did not stop walking until they were safe in their bedroom and she did not let go of the younger girl until she was softly sat at the stool of their dressing table. “No.” The blonde whimpered the moment Hermione’s warmth left her, reaching for her with her hands clenching the air, asking for her, needing her.  

“Shh, love.” The older witch cooed softly. “I’m right here.” She planted a gentle kiss in the flaxen girl’s forehead. “Let me get you changed.”

Luna nodded as her thumb found its way onto her mouth and she began sucking steadily. She watched through her tears as Hermione gathered her favorite footed pajamas. Returning to her the Gryffindor gently slid the robe from around her shoulders and unbuttoned her jeans, leaving them on for the moment. She reached down and took out her socks, gently massaging her freezing feet with her warm hands as she slid them out. Putting her hands under her shirt she quickly unhooked her bra and taking the hem of her shirt she pulled up softly. “Arms up, love.”

The blonde did as she was told and both her shirt and bra were pulled off her in one motion, leaving her uncovered from the waist up and shivering in the cold room. Her thumb quickly returned to her mouth. She did not even considered covering herself.

Smiling softly at the slowly calming, yet crying, girl Hermione gathered her again in her arms, carrying her to the bed they shared. Sitting the small girl close the edge, she gently pushed her so that her upper body was lying on the soft mattress. As she had done with the shirt, she pulled her jeans off and quickly replaced them with the lower part of Luna’s footie pajama, first one leg, then the other, making sure the feet were not crooked or tangled. The blonde only helped lifting her bum so that the pajama could be put underneath it without too much trouble for the older girl.

With an amused shake of her head the brunette tugged the younger witch’s free hand to sit her again and quickly finished putting the one-piece in place, only interrupting Luna’s sucking for a second as she secured her arm in the long, warm, sleeve. Not bothering to take the front zipper the older girl simply waved her hand and the pajama was closed, prompting a soft sigh for her loved blonde.

Hermione leaned to her and kissed her nose. “No more crying, honey. I forgive you… if you’d forgive me?” She told her faintly, knowing full well the girl was soaking in her, in her voice, in her presence, in her scent, in her love.

Luna’s tears had dried by the time those words left the Gryffindor lips and she simply let herself fall forward, towards the warmth she had come to equal to Hermione, letting herself being hugged again. “I ‘ove ‘ou.” She mumbled around her thumb.

“And I you.” The brunette kissed her temple before lifting her again and putting her on her hip, this time marching out the room and towards the bathroom.

The blonde frowned at the change of scenery, but her questions were answered when she was place on the closed toilet and the older girl approached her with a warm washcloth. She grimaced when the rough cloth was rubbed around her face, cleaning the tear stains and the small mess her running nose had created. “Blow.” She was commanded and she obeyed, blowing her nose in the cloth that was presented.

“Do you need to use the bathroom?” Hermione asked her while disposing the used washcloth in the hamper they had for their dirty clothes. The house elves could deal with it later. She was answered with a nod of flaxen hair. “I’ll wait outside, then.”

The brunette left the girl to relieve herself while still thinking why on Earth she had forgiven the little witch. Had it been Harry or Ron her anger and resentment could easily last for months, yet this girl had simply cried to her and she had come running back to hold her, to make her pain go away, to say she was sorry too.

She sighed as she leaned next the bathroom’s closed door. Her life was a rollercoaster of emotions, ever since her parents left her. If it was not Harry making her cry, it would be Ron, then both, then her Mama, then Luna, then the stupid A.C.D., then her Mama, then Luna… and she believed that her luck would make this rollercoaster a really long and complicated one.

The girl she was waiting for was a magnet for strong emotions, or so she believed. When she was with the girl she felt everything heightened. Everything. She was happier around her, she was sadder, she was angrier. With the little witch her emotions came out to play with more strength and more aggressively. She felt at ease with her, an air of calm she had never known and a sense of belong that she sorely loved. She was a drug that made her feel more, feel better.

The flush of water made her straighten herself just before Luna came out the room, smelling slightly of mint toothpaste and lavender soap. She smiled at the reddened face her friend sported, maybe they needed to invest in softer washcloths if only to lessen the irritation they caused in the blonde’s fair skin. “My turn.” She said to the still thumb sucking girl. She knew better than to send her ahead to bed… Luna did not want to be alone right now.

It took her only a few minutes and, before the younger girl could tear up again, she was out the bathroom, leading the girl by the hand to the room just paces ahead of them. Still holding her hand she took them to the bed and pulling the covers wandlessly, she made the girl comfortable beneath them, letting her remain seated. “Just a moment, love.” In an instant she had shed her own jeans and long-sleeved blouse, leaving her in her panties and bra. Sliding next to the girl in the warm covers, she shot a tiny spark to their small fireplace to get the fire going and sighed.

Luna watched as her friend twisted in bed so she could take her Dreamless Tonic bottle and took a huge gulp out of it. She grimaced, she still could not understand how Hermione bear that taste every single night. When the brunette turned to her, bottle in hand, she simply shook her head. She was not taking that again.

“Come on, Luna, it’d been a long day… we need it.”

“Na-uh.” She mumbled around her thumb.

“Luna.” That simple word, said with all the calmness in the world, yet that held so much warning, made the still sensitive witch started weep again. Hot, fat tears came running down her cheeks and she could do nothing to prevent it. Hermione was right, she was too frail and emotional to have pleasant dreams tonight. She quickly accepted the tonic and took a swing at it, barely refraining herself from throwing it up right in the middle of the bed.

“Good girl.” The older witch praised her as she received her bottle back. Once her trusted bottle was in its place at her bedside table, she reached behind to her back and unhooked her bra, freeing herself and letting her nipples harden in the cold air. “Let’s sleep now, okay?” She stated more than asked as she lay down pulling up the sheets to cover her from only the waist down. She opened her arms and Luna was instantly in them.

The blonde inhaled deeply in the brunette’s scent. She smelled of snow and cinnamon, with just a hint of toothpaste and Dreamless Tonic. She smiled when a strong arm hold her by the waist while a warm hand tangled in her hair, urging her face nearer the older witch’s breasts. She needed no more prompting and she latched onto one tan nipple while her hand softly groped the unattended boob, barely squeezing it at the same rhythm she sucked.  

“Good girl.” The brunette sighed again, relishing in the calming sensation having Luna attached to her caused. They had been doing this on and off since that night the first day of classes, especially if one of them had had a rough day. It had taken Hermione little time to start enjoying this activity as the calming ritual the blonde had needed as opposed to the heat it had created the first time they had done this. Sure, she still got turned on at having a lovely woman licking her breast, but now the excitement was easily overruled by the relaxation it provoked. “Sweet dreams, love.”

Luna simply mumbled something intelligible, already half sleep, the long day playing in the snow and the last couple of hours filled with emotional battles finally getting to her, added with the knowledge that Hermione was still hers, and she was not going anywhere, she simply let herself sleep away.

 

# Chapter Twenty-Six – Firetrots and Pixiecakes

“Are you ready to talk about it?”

“No.” Came the muffled response.

“Okay.” Hermione sighed at her friend. They had been awake for some minutes now and it would not be long before they needed to get up. Luna was still attached to her chest, her pale lips around the opposite nipple they had been during the night. Her sucking was more intense that before and the brunette was glad the girl had decided to switch because she had had sore breasts before and they were all caused by Luna, at least this way she would not be hurting too much.

Tangling her fingers in flaxen hair she scratched the scalp of her beloved friend. She had learnt that Luna needed time to think through her problems, as did she, that was why they never talked about what had upset them right away. They almost always waited at least a night to open up to the other, unless the problem in question had been eating them up for days. That was she had not asked Luna voice the fears and jealousy she had had last night.

“Do you want to stay in bed a little longer?” She asked faintly, not wanting to brake to calmness that surrounded the little blonde.

The blonde nodded, her teeth grazing slightly at her skin and making her shiver.

“Then let me ask Sniffles for breakfast and to wake Harry up.” Inquisitive pale blue eyes looked up at from beneath half opened eyelids. “He stayed at the spare bedroom last night.” She answered the unvoiced question.

Luna frowned. Why was Harry sleeping in their rooms? Why would Hermione invite over the person that had caused their fight the night before? But that was not true, no, it had been her own insecurities that had made her so mad last night. Harry was her Neenie’s friend and she had to learn to deal with that. Her frown deepened at the thought and her teeth bit down the soft mound she had been playing with accidentally.

“Ahg! Luna!” Hermione cried surprised. It had not hurt too much, but this was the very first time the blonde had done more than sucking. “Does Harry been here bother you that much?” She asked, thinking she had been bitten because the fiery girl was angry at her, again.

The younger witch shook her head. It did not really bother her once she recognized that she was simply jealous… and she had nothing to be jealous of. She really doubted the brunette would ever let the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice in her bed and to her chest. Detaching herself from the older girl, she kissed softly where she had bitten and simply switched again, latching on Hermione’s other nipple sighing. Yes, she was the only one privileged enough to have all of the Gryffindor’s love and body.

Hermione shuddered at the kiss, forcing her hormones down, it would not do well to their relationship if she was to lost control of her teenage lust. “You know? It’ll be easier for me to talk _with_ you if you’d actually spoke.” She only received a little smirk at that. Shaking her head amusedly she reached for the sheets and covered her body up to her chest and called softly. “Sniffles?”

With a soft pop the elf was right in front of them. “Little Miss, calls?”

The older witch smiled at how the little thing eyed the top of Luna’s head, that had been halfway hidden by the covers, with curiosity. She did not minded if somebody caught them in this position –well, maybe if her Mama walked on them it would be embarrassing- as it was something truly innocent, she was simply not comfortable showing her chest to other than Luna. It was fun seeing the little elf squirming, thought. “Yes, could you please bring breakfast for three and go wake Harry up? He’s sleeping in the other room.”

The elf nodded. “Yes, Miss Neenie. Miss Neenie need anything else? A book? A sweet?”

Hermione grinned at her, thinking on one particular book she wanted, yet she remembered her faintly stinging bottom and the woman that had made it so only two days ago. Maybe it was not such a good idea. “Could you please also bring Harry’s uniform and hygiene products and show him to the bathroom?”

“Yes, Miss Neenie.”

The brunette beamed. “Thank you so much, Sniffles, you are amazing!”

The blushing elf bowed slightly and with a pop she was out the room and went to carry with her orders.

Luna chuckled softly. She did not need to see to know that Hermione had embarrassed the elf yet again. Eyeing her bed companion she noticed a small smile that now accompanied the brunette in the mornings. While Hermione was not a morning person, the blonde had discovered that if she was woken little by little and given the chance to stay in bed for some minutes before rising, she was always up smiling and laughing, as opposed at the small yet painful ritual Minerva liked to use to rouse the heavy-sleeper Gryffindor which made her a good impression of the Inferi.

“Come on, you.” The brunette pushed the little witch away from her gently and sat up fully, stretching her arms to the sky and popping her back. “We’ll shower at lunch, so let’s get dressed.”

The second year only looked at her from her spot on the bed, her parted lips slightly red and a little of drool at the corners of her mouth, her raised hands resting at either side of her head. Her hair was all tussled up and her pajamas wrinkled, yet the spark in her eyes was full of life and amusement. Hermione did not know why, but she highly suspected her morning would be a difficult one.

She was not mistaken as Luna remained a dead weight for the rest of the early morning, forcing the brunette to dress her boneless body and prompting several bad words from the older witch’s lips every few minutes.

XxXxX

Harry exited the bathroom to find a wide array of foods lying on the small table he had seen the night before. All the books and papers that had covered it were gone and his mouth watered at the delicious smell that reached his nose. Not even breakfasts at the Great Hall smelled this divine.

“Wow.” It was the only thing he could say.

“It’s quiet amazing, isn’t it?” An amused voice called to him from behind him. It always amazed her that Sniffles went out her way to give them delicious food when asked.

Jumping alarmed he smiled softly at the sight that greeted him. Hermione was in her perfectly done uniform, only her robes and sweater missing, her hair was brushed back and he noticed with a little surprise that most of the bushiness was gone from it and that her face was quite slim, the baby fat that he remembered she had was long gone. He had not noticed the day before with all the clothes she had been wearing, she was beautiful. “Good morning, ‘Mione.” He smiled.

“Good morning, Harry.”

“And good morning, Luna.” He added, his smiling dimming just a tad. Behind his friend the little blonde was peeking at him thought pale eyelashes, her face halfway planted on the taller girl’s back and her little fists clenching the soft fabric of the other witch’s blouse. She was wearing a long shirt over her uniform covering her almost mid-thigh, he just could see the bottom of her grey skirt and the sleeves of her knitted sweater. He was curious about the shirt, but he knew better than ask. He had no way of knowing the little blonde was a messy eater and she used her shirt to avoid changing clothes or using cleaning charms.

“Morning.” She mumbled shyly. Looking down she pressed herself even more to Hermione “Pixiecakes are sorry to bother Firetrots late in the night.” She murmured with a tiny voice and the boy had to strain to hear her, still, he understood her.

Harry inched his way closer to the females and he bended to see Luna eye to eye. Over the last year, after he had been chosen as a Champion, he had started taking nutritional potions to help him grow and gain muscle, though the result was not as expected after his living with the Dursleys, he was now almost three inches taller than Hermione and not as lanky as he had always been. He was then a foot taller than the tiny blonde and in order to see her lowered face he needed to lean at the waist. “Firetrots are sorry for making Pixiecakes uncomfortable late in the night.” He said equally softly at the still hiding girl.

Luna raised her head at that. She had thought that it would be the polite thing to do to apologize for her behavior when he had only been nice to her the day before. Never had she imagined that the boy would apologize too. “Why?”

“Because I intruded in your home and stole your friend, so I’m sorry.” He said gently. No matter how close Hermione and he had been over the last four years he was no blind, they would never be as close as she and Luna and he would hate to cause problems between them.

The blonde blinked, two tears running down her cheeks. In an instant she was no longer behind the brunette and was hugging the stuffing out of Harry. “I’m sorry I was so rude. You are an amazing friend to her, thank you.”

Harry let the girl wrap around himself, his smile returning in full motion. He looked at Hermione from over the blonde’s head and saw her smiling slightly too, eyeing the little witch with something that shook his core. This girl, this crazy witch, had done something to his Hermione and he could never be more grateful for it. He had never seen the brunette shine so brightly, smile so happily, be so calm. He then knew Luna Lovegood was just an amazing person. “I’d like to be your friend too, Luna… if you’d have me.”

The younger girl simply hugged even more tightly, surprised but at the same time utterly grateful at the wizard in front of her. “I’d love to, friend.”

Hermione simply smiled happily. If only Draco could join them…

XxXxX

He frowned at the letter he had just received. It was not even nine in the morning and his world was been already shaken. His pale grey eyes roamed the room, searching for his best friend. He scoffed, the lazy witch was again missing from the Great Hall.

“Something the matter, Draco?” A sweet voice called to him. Looking at his right he was met with a pair of green, lively eyes, inquiring to him softly.

“I just received a letter from mother, that’s all.” He said in an equally soft voice, glad that it was her who had caught his uncharacteristic scoff.

“Good or bad news?” Said the green-eyed witch that was very aware the rest of their table was aware they were talking.

“Strange news.” He admitted. He sighed. “Hey, Daph,” he started, just barely hesitating. “How are things at home?”

Daphne Greengrass sighed at the question her friend made. “Mommy is still crying over him.” She replied in a murmur, knowing there were ears all around them.

Draco nodded in acknowledge, not really understanding. Both their parents had been Death Eaters from the Inner Circle and they had more or less grown up together with the other children born to the Dark Lord’s most loyal followers. The Greengrass sisters, Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle were the closer friends he had while growing up, mostly because their mothers shared many things in common, mainly the thought that Voldemort’s war was a lost cause and a waste of their husbands’ lives. Her mother, Arcadia Greengrass, was the only one to be in love with her husband, though, and his upcoming trial was eating away the poor woman.

The blond boy could not understand the way somebody could actually love a Death Eater. His father was abusive of both him and his mother and there was nothing in him that the Slytherin could do to actually feel something different than gratitude that his father was up for trial soon. Most of the Death Eaters were similar to their wives and offspring, Daphne and Astoria, on the other hand, were actually loved by their father and they were sad that their Daddy was in danger of getting The Kiss.

They were not sure why, but this time around the trials after the war were taking longer and were actually better managed than after the First Wizarding War. The Death Eater’s trials were the ones that were taking the longest, mainly because they were still hunting for them and the Ministry wanted to have the majority of the Marked Wizards before starting sentencing to avoid cases like the one with Sirius Black. Their fathers were being held in Azkaban, but they were in a part of the prisons were there were no Dementors, only trained Aurors.

“I’m sorry.” He said truly meaning it. Daphne was his friend, maybe not as close as Hermione, but close enough that he felt for her.

“Thanks, Draco.” She blushed, hiding her half her face behind her sandy hair and returning to her breakfast. Interactions between them were few and far in between, but she still remembered her first kiss that was stolen by this same boy at the tender age of ten.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her sudden shyness. Girls were wired. He turned to the letter and read it again, wondering why his mother was asking for him to meet her at the next Hogsmeade weekend, which was exactly next weekend. There was an underlying tone of worry and desperation behind her words and he could but worry what kind of information his mother wanted him to know immediately.

XxXxX

Looking around the Great Hall he could not help but feel quite happy. His master had been gracious enough to give him more leeway in his day to day tasks. He could see himself making the lives of several Puffs and Claws and Cubs a little more miserable during his classes. He almost smiled.

His Master was aware of the sudden need the Headmistress had to teach the Namae Suiyaku and had ordered him not to teach it, no, Severus Snape was not teaching something his Master did not want him to teach, even when that cursed McGonagall would surely find another way to teach it. That did not concern to him.

His only task right now was to keep his eyes and ears open, all the while making the old Scottish witch’s life as hard and miserable as possible.

# Chapter Twenty-Seven – Ten Minutes

“Why were you exactly going to watch this, baby?” The Headmistress asked her with one eyebrow raised as she leaned back in her high chair.

Hermione blushed as she received the little vial with her memory in it. Four days had passed and she was still ashamed of the way she had acted towards her blonde little friend, and she was still sore thanks to her Mama’s heavy hand. “Luna wanted to know what happened that night… and I was making her watch it.” She mumbled the last part awkwardly, knowing her Mama could easily see right through her.

The old with frowned at that. “Are you telling me you were forcing her?”

The brunette winced at the way that was phrased. It made her look like a really bad person. “Sorta.” She admitted, looking down at the desk that rested between her standing self and her seated Mama. “I’m really not comfortable remembering that night, so I thought it would be easier if Luna simply watched.” Looking up she gulped at the venomous glare her mother sent her. “She said she was okay until we arrived to your office, then she chickened out and I told her it was okay, I swear!” She rushed out, knowing that glare too well. She unconsciously protected her behind with both hands.

“But you were the one to _convince_ her of watching it, right?” The glare did not lessen and it sent shivers down her back.

“Yes.” She whimpered. She had insisted until Luna had agreed, albeit reluctantly.

The old woman sighed. Long gone was the time when her Hermione was a little, cute, student who only broke the rules to help her friends Potter and Weasley. Luna was right, Hermione was acting more childish since she had adopted her. “Come here.” She ordered softly as she patted her lap.

The girls whimpered again. She knew she had to be truthful with her Mama but she so wished she had lied to her. “Mommy?” She asked in her most pitiful voice.

The older witch allowed her lips let escape a little chuckle and smile at the miserable girl that was looking at her like she had kicked Crookshanks. “I want you to sit here, baby, nothing more.”

Shooting her a dubious glare she slowly rounded the large desk and stood beside her mother. She gently sat on the older witch’s lap, expecting any second for the woman to flip her over and have her looking at the rather interesting rug carpet she had seen so many times. When it was obvious her hide was safe for the moment she let a low sigh out and cuddled to the warm body of the mother, prompting a loving smile from the older woman. “I love you, Mommy.” She mumbled contently as bony arms circled around her. She loved these little moments in which she was held… and it was a bonus she was not hurting as she always did when she was cuddled like this.

Minerva’s smile dimed, but the love behind her eyes could not be mistaken. “I love you too, my baby.” She kissed the top of her dark curls. “But you need to understand that Luna is not ready to see that memory, she’s too young.” She chided slightly.

Hermione sighed. “I know.” Luna was wise in many ways, wise beyond her years, but she was also too naïve in many others. Luna was a different kind of being and she had attempted against her the moment she had even thought of sharing her memory. “I’m sorry.”

The older witch tightened her hug on the girl. “I’m not the one you should apologize to.”

“I know. I already did.” The brunette smiled. “She forgave me.”

“Good.”

They stayed cuddled for some minutes, each one of their brains remembering that dreadful night, the night in which Harry had finally killed Voldemort. No matter how much they both wanted to forget, it was a memory so implanted in them that they knew nothing would ever erase it. “Neenie?” The older woman hesitantly asked.

“Yes, Mama?”

“What really happened?”

The brunette blinked confused. “Didn’t you see it all?”

“No, baby. That memory is yours, not mine.”

Hermione took a deep breath. That night had been awful, but she needed for someone to know, for someone to understand. The three of them, Ron, Harry and her had been alone for almost ten minutes, ten long minutes that had taken the Aurors and Professors to reach them, ten exhausting minutes in which they had to face the Inner Circle, ten horrible minutes in which they had finally defeated the Dark Lord. Those were the ten minutes that had been lost for all except Harry and herself as Ron had fainted almost three minutes into the battle. “You really wanna know?”

Minerva had been the first to arrive at the scene and it was imbed in her mind like a photograph. Three children, one of them fallen, surrounded by a dozen of Death Eaters, all of them frozen in place, confined by thick, unmovable, ice. And then, just in front the children, the dying body of the man that had made their lives so miserable, that had casted so much darkness in the world, yelling out loud the last thing his breath had formed: Morgen.

Later on Rita Skeeter, after many interviews on Aurors, Professors and Death Eaters, had managed to sketch a lose history around what had happened that night. However, everybody was so relieved at the Dark Lord’s death that none of them had actually inquired on what really happened.

“Yes, baby. I need to.” And it was true. The guilt of not hearing the girl’s warnings, of not realizing there was something wrong with the maze, had been eating at her for almost a year now.

Taking another deep breath she let herself relax in the arms of the woman that loved her like a daughter. She started speaking.

“It really started way before the final task. I guess you can remember the Halloween feast and the uproar that Harry’s choosing made. Everybody was angry at him when he told the school that he had not entered his name, but of course nobody believed him, nobody besides Ron and me, that’s it. Fred and George got angry at us, saying that Harry was just trying to steal the spotlight again, that he _had_ to be the fearless hero, the one that saved us all.

“He was elated, you know? He had wanted to have a nice year, a year with no threats to his life and maybe a year were he could find proof that Sirius was innocent, but at the thought of competing for the school’s honor crossed his mind, he was just gone. He practically kissed goodbye to all the normal and safe things he had planned.

“Ron of course was as happy, a little jealous, but happy. He was sure Harry’s lucky star would shine for us again. I know you remember the adventures we’d had in our first three years in Hogwarts. You know about the Stone, the Basilisk and Sirius, and how hurt we’d gotten because of our recklessness behavior. I was scared, truly scared, I don’t think we could have luck this many years in a row.

“It wasn’t long before my fear got in the way. I was always worrying about the Tournament and I was constantly berating those two for their stupidity. Harry started skipping classes and stopped handing in homework, he said that he was Champion so he was exempted of exams and school work. Ron followed his lead, even though he was going to be examined he stopped worrying about school a week in November. I snapped at them, and like it’s their usual modus operandis they got angry at me and we’d had a nasty fight before December arrived.”

“That’s around the time you asked for your quarters.” Minerva pointed out. She had asked for the tale of a single night and was rewarded with the whole year. Still, she did not complain, her little girl needed to tell her this, to ease her heart.

“Yeah.” She snuggled closer to the older woman, wanting to be the closest to her. “They say really hurtful things to me and it made me realize that they were not real friends… I had never had a friend before them, but even I could understand the difference between companionship and friendship after three years of being here. I love Harry, Mama, he fills a part of my heart that was meant for a brother, but I never really liked Ron, and I’ve known forever that Harry would always choose Ron over me. But it hurt. It hurt too much when they decided I was no longer of use to them. Harry chose to follow Ron’s advice and served our friendship, yet part of me wanted to help them, to aid them in any way I could so he wouldn’t die at the end of the year.

“I started researching. There were so many rules that were being broken by the own Ministry, so many safety precautions that were overlooked, and then, then Professor Moody taught us the Unforgivable Curses and I knew there was something unmistakably wrong. I started watching him, I started doubting everything related to the Tournament and I started looking for the real reason Harry was chosen.

“The First Task let me know there was someone after Harry, but that they wanted him alive, the Second let me know that they would stop at nothing at getting him, not even the lives of the rest of the students. The task had been always similar in every Tournament, so I knew the last one would be a maze of some sort… which is just sadly convenient, don’t you think? What better way to get the Chosen One separated from every person in school than to get him lost in the Task? The way everybody was so bent of having no one but the Champions when it was just too obvious he was in danger, they were so stupid. Sorry, Mama.” She said quietly as she freed her pendant from beneath her clothes. She did not know why but she had been wearing it more often now than ever, it was actually the only piece of jewelry she owned besides her silvery watch and she had developed a habit of playing with it when she was in deep thought or nervous, just like now. She knew her Mama had been one of those to think it was all safe and she was afraid she had offended the older witch with her story.

The older witch sighed as she watched her girl play with the small, silvery, circular pendant that was surely a family heirloom. “No, baby, I’m the one sorry. You came to me a day before the Task and told me there was something wrong, that you were scared of Harry. I didn’t believe you. I’m sorry.” She kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

The girl nodded sadly. It had shattered her heart when the older woman had practically kicked her out her office the night before the Task. She had been so frantic and scared that she had lost control of both her magic and temper and she had ended throwing what looked really close to a tantrum, completely with a small icy storm inside the office that had managed to destroy several days of her Mama’s work. She had been sent to bed with ten hard smacks on her bare behind and a firm promise for more to come if she did something stupid like she had done in her first year. Still, she had to follow her gut. “I knew he was in danger and I had to do something. I enchanted his glasses in the morning when I thought no one was awake. Ron saw me and instantly thought I was doing something to prevent him to win, he woke the entire dorm and it took me a long time to convince him that I simply wanted to know exactly where Harry was in the maze and that the glasses would help me with that.

“It was Harry the one who believed me almost instantly.” She smiled. “He knew I wouldn’t do anything to harm him and he listened to my concerns… I believe he felt guilty of hurting me. He accepted to have both his glasses and shoes enchanted, so that we could know where he was and what path he had took. When I noticed the way Professor Moody encouraged him to enter the maze with as little precaution as possible I knew he was the one after Harry. As soon as Harry left my sight I grabbed Ron and we started to follow him under Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.

“We saw how Viktor tried to kill him and how Harry managed to save himself. We saw how Fleur begged for her life and how she was consumed by the hedges… we also saw how Cedric was stunned from behind but we never saw who did it. Ron was sick; he threw up at least twice by the time we reached the center of the maze and as Harry was going to reach for the Cup I kinda rush forward to stop him dragging Ron with me. The Cup was a portkey and the moment we all touched we were sent to the Cemetery.”

“Where Voldemort was waiting for you.” Minerva interrupted softly.

“Sorta. When we arrived Wormtail greeted us with this strange little thingy in his arms and that stupid snake. It was a really ugly baby-like Dark Lord, all grey and deformed.” Hermione grimaced. “It was the most sickening thing I’ve ever seen. I guess I kinda passed out because that’s the last thing I remember seeing. When I woke up we were tied to a statue and Voldemort had regained his somewhat human body. And I say somewhat because he looked more like a snake than a man and I’m really not sure which one of his forms were the most disturbing. Do you know that there is a theory that we are actually related to snakes? There is even a group that’s bent on showing that many influential people are actually snake like beings tha-”

“Neenie.” The older witch interrupted again, slightly smiling. “You’re rambling.”

“Sorry.” The girl bit her bottom lip nervously. This was the part where everything got difficult to narrate.

“Stop biting your lip.” Her Mama chided softly as her hand cupped the girl’s chin and her thumb gently released the lip from its tormentors. Hermione simply pouted. “Please continue.”

“Voldemort start gloating. He started telling us how he would end the wizarding world as we know it. He was so excited, so, so happy? Yes, I think that could describe him. Then he called for his followers. We were surrounded by Death Eaters in matter of seconds and that’s when he started giving orders. He wanted Harry beaten, but alive, and he said they could do anything to Ron and I…” She lowered her eyes and whispered almost inaudible. “He told them I could be a little _entertainment_ for the Inner Circle… he suggested Lucius to be the first to have me.” She frowned as tears started leaking from her eyes. “His words were: ‘Take the mudblood to the Manor and tore her apart. Lucius, you are to have her first, but don’t abuse her too much, we need her to amuse all of you’… or something like that.”

“Oh, my baby.” McGonagall’s voice shook as she embraced her daughter to herself. She knew Hermione suffered from night terrors and she was almost certain that this particular memory was one of the most recurrent ones. Thank Merlin for Dreamless Tonics. “Everything is alright now, little one.”

The Gryffindor hid in her Mama’s neck and cried quietly. She had been so scared in that moment and the worst of all was that she sometimes could still feel the eyes of every Death Eater checking her out, undressing her with their eyes, especially if she was by herself in a silent room, surrounded with only her thoughts and memories. “I- I snapped.” She continued softly. “That’s when I covered the Death Eaters in ice, I was so afraid I lost control. It was the first time I could do that, I had only been able to create a little snow and breeze, never ice and never that much. It was all quiet for a second and then we heard his voice. _Morgen_. It was just a murmur but it was easily heard in the silence. We were confused, wondering why he’d say that, yet I knew he was talking to me. Something told me he was talking to me. He said that name again and suddenly we were free and he was stalking towards us.”

Hermione shuddered. “He cupped my cheek and called me that yet again. I- I was so confused that I shoved him away from me with wandless magic and that’s when all hell broke loose. The snake launched itself to Ron and I don’t know how he started dueling with it. Harry and I were left to face Voldemort. He was so confused as how I managed to shove him that he didn’t saw Harry sneaking up to him, trying to catch him off guard. They also started fighting, the Dark Lord firing many curses I’d never heard before and Harry dodging and firing his own hexes. Through the fight he kept looking at me but I was frozen in place. I saw how Ron sliced the snake in half and fainted at all the blood and gore and that snapped me out my funk.

“I also started firing all the spells I could imagine but he was starting to win. He was more powerful, quicker, wiser and we were just two kids with no training. He kept taunting us, calling Harry’s parents’ names and how he was a failure. But he also kept calling me Morgen and that I needed to remember. He was bonkers. And then… and then…”

Minerva closed her eyes at the tale she was hearing. None of the Trio deserved to live through that. Stupid Albus and his need to keep Harry as untrained as possible. If the boy had known of the dangers that awaited him maybe this battle would have been less traumatic for everyone. Her only consolation was that the stupid man had been exiled from Britain and he has not been heard off ever since Voldemort was defeated. “And then?”

“And then he sent a Killing curse to Harry… and I intercepted it.” She blinked as two, fat tears fell.

“You what?!”

The girl looked up to her mother and the confusion and pain behind her eyes took the Headmistress’ breath away. “I got in the way of the green light and then lifted a shield to protect us, though I knew it wouldn’t work. The killing curse didn’t reach my shield, Voldemort redirected it way before it got close to us. I sent him a silent stunner and that’s when Harry also sent his own Killing Curse. Their wands locked into each other and they stayed like that for long seconds. I tried to help Harry but my wand didn’t respond to me, it wouldn’t rise as it had been suddenly transformed to lead and it made my whole arm heavy. When you popped in it distracted Voldemort enough so Harry could finish him… and well, you know the last thing he yelled.”

“Morgen.”

“Morgen.” Hermione agreed. She stayed silent as she knew her Mama knew what happened after that. The Aurors and Professors started popping in, all called by the alarm Harry’s Avada Kedabra had rung. As the Dark Lord fell the ice covering the Death Eaters thawed and another short battle began. Two Aurors and three Death Eaters had died that night and it had taken Hermione several days to finally convince herself that the world was safe at last. That last battle has been so anticlimactic that it was simply too surreal to think Voldemort was dead.

Minerva just hugged her. Her daughter’s tale only creating more questions than the ones that had been answered.

 

# Chapter Twenty-Eight - Meetings

“Mother, I was surprised at your letter.” Draco said as his mother entered the private room the witch had requested at the Three Broomsticks.

“My dear boy, I missed you so much.” The blonde witch sauntered to the boy, cupping his face in her hands and delivering a soft kiss on both his cheeks and forehead.

“Mother…” He whined in the most childish voice he could manage. He loved his mother but he was certainly glad they were alone as the older woman was prone to embarrass him by coddling him.

“Oh, hush, son. You love me.”

The boy simply smirked. “That I do.”

Finally releasing her son the now doubted Madame Black sat at the comfy armchair that the room provided and started pouring tea from the service set it had been delivered minutes before Draco arrived. “Come sit, son. I have something to tell you.”

The blond wizard nodded and sat himself as close as he could to his mother. He did love her and it was obvious from the way she was acting that what was on her mind was utterly important. He graciously accepted the cup that was offered to him and said in a calm, collected voice. “Tell me, mother, what bothers you so?”

The regal woman sipped her tea, trying to buy her time and gather her courage. “There is a family secret,” she started vaguely. “One I think you should be part of.” She knew she needed to tell him everything but she had been stalling as long as possible. Now Sirius had told her that they finally had the means to search for the girl in Hogwarts and it would be only a matter of time for her to be found.

Draco raised an eyebrow at the woman. There were no really much the Malfoys had in secret. The ancient family was well known to flaunter everything they did and everything they had, the very little family secrets there were had been told to him by his father a long time ago, shortly before he was sent to Hogwarts. “I wasn’t aware father kept secrets from me.” It had been Lucius duty to train the boy to continue his name and legacy, and that included making him a somewhat permanent observer of everything he did and planed.

Narcissa smiled softly at him. He was just fifteen years and all his life he had been molded to the Malfoy part of his heritage, however, he was also a Black. “No dear, I was talking about my part of the family.”

“Oh.” It was the intelligent answer of the boy.

The blonde witch simply kept smiling. “I’m sure you remember your Aunt Bella?”

Draco nodded. “Vaguely. You stopped talking about her a long time ago.”

“Yes… Bella had always been a sore spot to me.” If she was true to herself, she had never forgiven Bellatrix of killing her niece. Of course she would have given her own life to see her sister free, but she had always resent her of ending such a precious life. Now that she knew what lengths she had gone to provide the girl’s safety, well, she was eternally grateful and could finally talk about her sister without been overcome by both sadness and anger. “However I’m sure you know she died around three years ago.”

He nodded. His aunt had died shortly after Christmas of his second year, it had been a difficult time for his mother, but he really could not feel the loss as she did. “I remember.”

The older blonde inhaled slowly. “You know I never wanted another child, you were, and are, more than enough for me, love. You are the sole heir of the Malfoy and Black lines, remember your father told you that, right?”

He frowned. What was his mother telling him? “Yes mother, I do.”

A pink tongue peeked softly to moisten pale thin lips as the blonde wondered why on Earth had she decided to tell her son this. “When you father told you that it was true, you were the oldest kid in your generation.” She left the information sink in his son, praying that the boy could understand what she was not telling him without having to actually tell him.

Draco’s frown deepened. “Are you telling me I have an older sibling?” How was that possible? He was an only son, the only child of Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy. But if he had a brother, because if it was a woman the title of Lord would still pass down to him, where was he?

Narcissa gulped. “Not exactly son, you are my only child. You, however, have an older cousin.”

Silvery blond eyebrows rose to the sky as he finally put down his untouched tea. “Father had siblings?!” That could not be true, he had spent hours studying the Malfoy family tree to ensure he knew his lessons to avoid his father’s ire. Were they blood traitors or something similar?

“No son. I’m actually not talking about the Malfoy line. You are the heir of that family.” He had obviously forgotten that her mother had told him they were talking about the Blacks and she needed him to remember that. Before Lucius was gone it was all about the Malfoys and their power and money, now, with him waiting for The Kiss it could finally be about the Blacks.

The boy groaned and clutched his head in his pale hands. He loved his mother, but she was as confusing as any pureblood witch and he had not been trained to understand them yet. That was his future wife’s task and he was not looking forward to find one either. He was only grateful that after his father’s incarceration the betrothal contract he had with Pansy Parkinson was nulled. “Please, Mum,” He used his childhood name for her. “Just tell me what you are trying to tell. My head hurts!”

Narcissa sighed. She had hoped too much for her poor boy to actually connect the dots, although to be fair, the boy had no way of knowing what she was talking about. “My sister had a daughter.” She finally said.

The boy mimicked her sigh. “I know, mother, I’ve met Tonks.” His aunt Andromeda was disowned as she had married a Muggle. Her daughter, a really silly Auror unfortunately called Nymphadora, was half-blood and a Tonks, so she could not be the older cousin that was out to get his title and money. What was his mother thinking?

The blonde witch groaned. As much as she now professed her love for all beings and blood mixing, she had effectively forgotten the middle Black sister. She had yet to talk with Andy, but she hoped now that she had been put on the front of her mind that she could go seek her. “I was not talking about her, son. Your aunt Bellatrix had a daughter. She is older than you for almost a year.”

Draco blinked, confused. His aunt Bella and uncle Rod never had a child. She was mad and he was sterile, or so his father had told him. “How?” It was all he could ask.

His mother just sighed again. It took her the rest of the day to explain to his smart son a really complicated and long tale about Dark Lords, mad mothers and deep regret for many things that could have been different than they were.

XxXxX

“And are you sure you need to go?” The stern Headmistress asked her for the seventh time.

Hermione smiled slightly at the seated woman who had been writing letters before they stormed in. She loved that her Mama was so concerned about her safety. “Yes, Mama. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have asked permission to leave.”

“But going to Muggle London is really dangerous.”

The brunette shook her head. “Mama, I was raised in it, I know my way around. Besides I’m just meeting Myka and H.G. for a couple of hours and shop for a really little while. We’ll be back before dinner.”

The oldest witch sighed as she looked at her daughter and her two companions, who were watching them talk with just a hint of excitement behind their eyes. “And why are Luna and Mister Potter going with you?”

Hermione looked at the boy that was just behind her and the little blonde holding her hand. “I promised Luna I’ll buy her some Muggle books and Harry really needs to buy some clothes… seeing as I need to go near Oxford Street I thought it would be safer for us to go together than just me alone…”

Her mother pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger and Hermione silently cheered. She knew she would dig that. “Fine. Fine!” She finally relented. “Floo form here and be back at six, do you hear me?”

The brunette quickly let go off Luna’s hand and ran around her Mama’s desk to plop on her lap, hugging her by the neck. She kissed her aging cheek. “Thank you, Mama!” She whispered in her ear.

Minerva chuckled at the excitement her daughter showed at the simple fact that she could go and meet with the liaisons between the brunette and her several businesses, thought maybe it had more to do with the company she would be having through the day. “Get going, baby, you’re wasting time.”

The young Gryffindor had not need to be told twice. In just mere seconds the three friends were out her office via floo and she was left alone to continue writing. She sighed. Severus was being a pain in the ass and was stalling the teaching of the potion. If she wanted answers fast then she would have to make something she really did not want to.

Her quill kept scratching the parchment as she wrote her very important, and unnecessary letter. If only Severus would teach the damn potion she would not been writing to Slughorn to ask for him to come to the castle and teach a little special class regarding rare potions and the many different ways there were to do the same thing with spells and tonics… including one Namae Suiyaku.

XxXxX

“This is amazing!” Luna chirped happily as she tugged on both her friend’s hands. They had just stepped out a really tall red thingy that had delivered them from the Leaky Cauldron to this marvelous street.

Hermione chuckled. “Slow down, love, you’ll tear our arms off.”

The blonde pouted as she started walking at normal speed again. She wanted to run down the marvelous street filled with Muggles and Muggle stores, she wanted to explore and see and smell and to listen to everything this part of Muggle London had to offer to her, but Hermione had been clear, she had to hold her hand the entire time they were shopping in Oxford Street. “Please?” She whimpered.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the little blonde, not understanding her. Even as he had spent lots of time with both witches since that dreadful night in which Luna had gotten so jealous, he was still a little slow when it came to the blonde’s habit of saying everything with only one or two words. He was saved from question when Luna was tugged slightly by a suddenly serious Hermione. “No, Luna. You are staying with me the whole time. No running, no sneaking around and absolutely not leaving my sight.”

“But-”

“Do you know what a kiddie leash is?” She interrupted the girl’s objections, prompting a snort from Harry as they stopped in front a children’s clothes store.

Luna looked at the scarred wizard confused, wondering what they knew that she did not. “No.” She replied simply.

Interestingly enough it was Harry the one who explained to her with a wide smile in his face. “They’re those harnesses that some Muggle parents put on their kids so they can’t go wandering around, pretty much like a dog leash, just made for humans.”

The blonde crooked her head to her right, blinking owlishly at such strange concept. Her bewilderment was short lived, though, when she realized that Hermione was discretely pointing to the window they were facing. There, in a small mannequin, just a tad smaller than herself, was a purple chest harness with pink stars and a long, thin, leash that followed the same pattern as the harness.

“We could always enchant it so nobody except us could take it off, right, Harry?” The brunette said in a conversational tone.

“I guess so, ‘Mione, though I think we should buy more than one… you chicks like to match and I’m sure you will need it for more than one trip, right?”

Luna blinked stunned. They were not saying what she thought they were saying. Were they? “Neenie? Harry?” She asked in a small voice.

“Are you going to let go of my hand?” The older witch said sternly. She was not concerned of the girl not being able to take care of herself, no, the little witch was more than capable of it. But they were in _Muggle_ London and they were all minors, the traces were still on them and though Hermione could use wandless and silent magic, which was untraceable, they could not risk revealing themselves on such a busy, non-magical, street. She did not want to chance the younger witch, who had no experience in any Muggle setting, to do something too magical or got hurt one way or another.

Harry was another matter altogether. The boy grew up with his relatives and could easily find his way around to return to Hogwarts if it was necessary. He knew how Muggle technology worked and was able to do things the old fashioned way. And he was fifteen, he looked sixteen and acted somehow mature; people would easily leave him by himself if he got lost. Luna was thirteen, looked ten and acted… well, like Luna. People would call the cops if such an innocent girl got lost.

Luna looked at the older witch, her tummy suddenly filled with wild Rugpers fluttering wildly, making her nervous and a little uncomfortable. She unconsciously rubbed her legs together at her sudden need to pee and held on the brunette’s hand tighter. Her tone of voice made her nervous. “No.” She murmured sadly, looking down.

Hermione nodded satisfied. “Good. Let’s go, I promised you a book and I need money.” They still have a couple of hours to kill before she had to meet with Myka and H.G., and although she was going to entrust Harry with Luna for the length of her meeting, she did need to leave the girl with enough money to indulge in her first Muggle shopping spree.

Luna followed obediently, wondering why that fluttering feeling was still within her as was the slight need to relieve herself. She looked back as they walked farther away from what she had leaned was a kiddie leash, eyeing it carefully. Maybe she should run ahead of them, if only to see if they would actually buy her one… she did not know why, but while it was simply strange to be leashed like a dog, part of her wanted to let them put her in one of those. The fluttering intensified. Or maybe she should simply stay close to Hermione, walking was starting to feel awkward.

XxXxX

They looked around. He was nowhere to be seen, not that they were surprised about that. No, he had been avoiding them for a while now. He had started hanging with that hag again, promptly forgetting about them. Well, that was not entirely true.

Ginny could still feel her pain in her chest, a pain that had accompanied her ever since Harry had broken up with her… and just to hang around that stupid Morgen and her stupid Loony.

“He’s not coming.” Ron somber voice called to her. “Let’s just go already.”

Ginny nodded and turned to leave the school entrance. Harry would not show up, even when he promised he would go with them to Honeydukes. He had abandoned them.


	9. Chapter 9

# -Chapter Twenty-Nine – Tasty Ones

“So, what kind of grand business your Granny left you?”

Hermione raised an eyebrow to the boy, she was still cross with him but apparently that was not making him any less happy to be sipping his chocolate milkshake. “Tasty ones.”

Harry mimicked her raised eyebrow. He had apologized, he had promised not to do it again, yet the brunette was clearly angry. He did not really care; she was going to be happy again in no time… she was finishing eating a rather big slice of cheesecake after all. “That’s not an answer.”

The female Gryffindor took a bite of her cake and repressed a moan. The cake was marvelous, and Harry was paying, so maybe she could be a little more polite. “They are not that great, really. Myka takes care of the importing ones while H.G. is in charge of the culinary ones.”

“Huh?”

“My Grandmama travelled a lot in her youth and she always liked the things the world had to offer her, especially food. I have business that import several products form all across the world to sell in different parts of Europe, though we mainly work in England and Ireland. And I’m also the owner of six restaurants, all here in London, that offer different kinds of international cuisine. They are not that big, but are rather famous in certain circles.”

“So you basically sell exotic things and food, right?” He said before finishing his tall milkshake rather loudly.

Hermione nodded. “Yeah, more or less. We trade different things, not just exotic ones, though.” She took another bite. “I also have some investments in different small businesses. I don’t work those, my money does.”

“Nice.” He smiled. “That’s why you are so good at cooking.” It was not a question, more than a statement.

“Yup.” She popped the ‘p’ as she licked the last of the cake on her fork.

“You need to cook us something one day, something different.” He was a rather competent cook, but he kneeled at the witch’s feet when she cooked. He had seen Hermione cook on two different occasions, one at Hogwarts and one at the Borrow, and on both times he had begged for seconds, then thirds, she was just so good at making edible things just from scattered items around a kitchen.

“I will, I promise.” She smiled, no longer angry. Maybe she had been a little harsh, but they had given her a scare. “Ready to go back?”

“Yeah.” The boy got his wallet as he stood up and deposited enough money on the table to pay for their things. “Do you want me to take her?” He asked gently, knowing his friend was rather protective of Luna.

Hermione looked down to her lap, where the blonde’s head was nestled, napping peacefully and sucking her thumb like she always did. Her face was rather pale and tearstains marred her soft cheeks, her little frown making her the perfect picture of any small kid sleeping after a rather heavy crying session. After getting lost for an hour Luna had learned her lesson at not wandering around and Harry had learned not to lose someone Hermione had trusted on him.

She sighed. She had left her meeting with Myka and H.G. only to find a distraught Boy-Who-Lived-Twice and a Nowhere-To-Be-Found-Luna. Luckily she could cast a discreet Point-Me that had allowed them to search the area quicker and more efficiently. Unluckily, they had found a panicked thirteen-years-old five streets down where she was last seen, crying frantically and in custody of a rather ugly cop. The female officer had been doing a poor job of finding the girl’s parents and was only scaring the girl more and more with every passing minute.

It had then taken them half hour to make the dumb woman believe their story that their cousin had run off from them and that they had been looking for her for hours while the woman had insisted on having the kid’s parents called. Finally Hermione wandlessly had put a compulsion on the woman to believe them and she had then proceeded to chastise the blonde second year into next week.

Harry, being Harry, had suggested they stopped for a snack before returning to school and had chosen a nice looking café where Luna had instantly settled in a boot at the back of it. She was still crying when the orders were placed and, as the boy was asking for forgiveness at his poor job of keeping the younger witch safe, she had curled up into Hermione and let her eyes drop, her head falling on her lap, and she was out in a minute. 

“Nah, I’ll take her.” She gently picked up the girl in her arms, glad that Luna had chosen to wear pants today, and slowly got out the booth with the blonde wrapped all around her. “Could you take her cake?” She asked him. Luna had ordered with them, but she had fallen asleep before she could even take a bite.

“Sure, Mione.” He said as he gathered the packed cake and the several bags they had managed to acquire in their short time at London.

“Thanks, Harry.” She grunted softly as she repositioned the girl in her arms, making sure her sucking thumb was not seen. Thank Merlin for featherlight enchantments and petite sized blondes. “Come on, I want to buy one last thing before going home.”

The boy looked at the bags he was carrying with him as they exited the cafe. They were at least a dozen of them and only four were his. What else would Hermione want to buy with a sleeping girl in her arms? “Where are we going?” He asked truly intrigued.

Hermione only smirked wickedly. “I owe Luna a harness.” She said simply while Harry just laughed.

XxXxX

Draco lay in his bed, trying to gauge if everything his mother had told him was true. His mother had told him so much about the Black family, about the First Wizarding War. She had told him about the Dark Lord and his aunt Bellatrix. Then she had told him about the baby, the way she was supposedly killed by her own other and the recent revelation that she was still somehow alive.

He frowned. His mother had known since late January and it was almost March… why would she not tell him sooner?

He sighed. He knew why. He had seen the truth in her eyes, the same emotional eyes that had led her to so much trouble with his father. She was guilty. She was ashamed of abandoning his cousin, for believing that her sister had actually killed her and for being too weak as to no search for any evidence of the toddler’s demise.

So now he had a cousin and had lost the Black heritage. He did not care about the latter, he had never care about money or status, no, that was just something that his father had made him want. So it did not matter that he had lost both the title and fortune of one of the most ancient and powerful lines the wizarding world had. What it did matter was that he had a cousin somewhere around, that could possibly know who she was and was hiding, or could possibly believe she was someone else.

He groaned. This was all fucked up. His cousin could be anyone in his year or a year up, if, and that was a big if, she was attending Hogwarts. She could easily be attending any other magical school or she could be hiding in the shadows, training on her own. Or she could be waiting just the right moment to reveal herself and take what was hers by law.

He groaned again. Any female in his year or in sixth year could be his cousin. What if it was Millicent Bulstrode or Pansy Parkinson? Those two were the ones making his life miserable in the dungeon with Snape’s help. Or what about any woman in the castle, really? He could not really wrap his head that his family had spurted another family member so suddenly.

He let his eyes close, willing the sleep to come. There was no reason for him to worry about it. He had a cousin now and he had to deal with it. He smiled, tomorrow he would write to Hermione and ask for advice, yes, that would be smart. The brunette would be able to calm him and listen to his rants… they had not seen each other since a week before the end of last term, a visit to the Astronomy Tower was really overdue.

XxXxX

“I’m sorry.” The soft voice came from the entrance of their bedroom.

Hermione sighed as she put her book down, looking at the pajama clad girl that had clearly just woken up. “I know, Little Moon, but you still scared me.”

Luna blinked back tears as she sat on the older witch’s lap, circling her waist with her arms. She sniffled softly and burrowed her face on the crook of Hermione’s neck. “I’m sorry.”

The brunette let the younger girl melt in her arms, hugging her fiercely. She wondered if her fear was the same kind of alarm she always made her Mama have when she was doing something stupid or reckless. If it was so she owed her mother a thorough apology. “I know.” She kissed the top of the flaxen locks. “Next time, though, you are wearing a leash.”

Luna smiled through the silent tears that were starting to soak Hermione’s soft cashmere sweater. At least the older witch was open to take her again to London and was not too angry at her. When she had scolded her in front of Harry she had thought for a second she was going to be spanked in the middle of the street and was going to be dragged to the school by the ear. Fortunately for her Harry had been the one to calm her Neenie and made sure her hide stayed as pale as ever.

“And next time you are staying with me the whole day, even if you get bored at my meetings, got it?”

The blonde laughed relieved. She had not screwed up so badly. “Yes, Neenie.” She stopped hiding in the older witch neck in order to peck her plump lips, feeling better after her long day. She cuddled into her friend arms and sighed as she eyed to parchment the girl was writing. “What are you doing?” Her small hands started playing with the now ever present old circular pendant that was unusually out the confines of the brunette’s clothes, prompting a smile from Hermione.

“I’m writing a letter, love.” She replied softly, wondering if it was wise to let the girl know one of her many dirty secrets. Luna and she shared everything in their day to day life, but she still had her share of mysteries that nobody, not even her Mama, knew.

“Viktor or Fleur?”

“Neither.”

“Then who?” The girl asked confused. Hermione had no relatives and she was certain she did not have that many friends either, specially not some out of the school, just those two ‘exchange’ students she sometimes wrote to. She had written to her form time to time during Christmas break, but she was here with her, so it was not a letter for the blonde. Harry had also spent most of his time with them for the last week and she was sure Hermione wrote to him only if they were apart and in speaking terms. So who she was writing to?

The older girl sighed. “A friend, love.” She finally decided to be at least halfway truthful. She watched carefully for any signs of jealousy in the blonde’s face. Seeing none and only a little of curiosity she continued. “He and I can’t see much of one another, but I really like him. He is my very best _male_ friend.”

Luna smiled slightly. So this mysterious person was the brunette’s best _male_ friend. “So who is your best _female_ friend?”

Hermione laughed at that. Fortunately after last week’s episode the girl was more comfortable with the thought of sharing her. “I don’t know, Luna. I’m debating between Lav and Vati… though both are really loud, so maybe I’ll choose Hannah, she is nice and quiet… but not that funny. What do you think? Who should I choose as best female friend?”

The younger witch pouted before smirking cutely, playing along with the teasing she was being subjected to. “I really think Ginny should be it. She’s fierce and loyal. She’s also fond of you.”

The older girl chuckled, at least Luna was confident enough of their relationship to tease and joke about it. “You, love, are my best female friend.” She pecked the girl sitting in her lap on the lips. She chuckled again. “He got slightly jealous of you, you know?”

The other girl blinked owlishly at that. Had she made someone jealous? No, that was not possible, she was the jealous one, she was not the one to get someone jealous. But then again, that boy, or man, could be also the jealous type. “Who is he?” She asked what could possibly be the greatest mystery in her life. It was obviously not Harry… Harry… “Hey, what about Harry? Isn’t he your best friend?”

Hermione laughed out loud. “That’s what he said too, that Harry was my best male friend, but as you know Harry is more like a brother for me.” She ruffled the flaxen locks amused. “You two would easily be friends.”

Luna frowned confused. “Who is he?”

The brunette then knew she was not going to lie to her so she answered with all honesty, if only to see the shock in the younger’s face. “Draco. Draco Malfoy.”

It took the Gryffindor almost an hour to make the suddenly catatonic blonde witch to start responding again.

 

# Chapter Thirty – In Sickness and in Health

“Oh, love, please, let me get Madame Pomfrey.” She pleaded for the ninth time, sighing as she did so.

A sneeze, then a slight groan. “No.”

“Fine. I’ll talk to her and get you some potions, then.”

“Don’t wanna.” She whimpered.

“Luna, you’re sick, you need medicine.” Hermione sighed from her place trapped beneath the younger girl. Twelve hours, only half a day, had passed since the little blonde started sneezing and coughing and the older witch was already at the end of her rope. Not only did the girl was a clingy little thing, but she was also a stubborn little one. She did not dare to imagine what would happen when Luna finally started having her monthly visitor.

“No.”

The brunette sighed, again. It was Friday morning and it was decided after just waking up that none of them would be attending classes thanks to a long, long night in which neither of them had gotten much sleep. Luna had not only spent the night sick, getting up every half-hour to throw up or to clean her nose, but Hermione had also discovered that the little blonde became a soccer player when sick… she kicked every and anything in close proximity.

“Let me at least make you some soup.”

“No.” Luna wiggled, trying to find the right spot for her cheek in between the brunette’s breasts.

Hermione wanted to scream. The girl had not eaten anything since last night and had thrown it up just a couple of hours after curfew. With nothing in her stomach, and no fluids in her, the girl would end sooner rather than later in the Infirmary unconscious and weakened. And there was nothing that Luna hated more than the Hospital Wing.

The blonde whimpered again. She felt dreadful and wanted nothing more than to cuddle and be held through the day. Her throat hurt, her tummy hurt, her eyes hurt… even her knees hurt! Neenie was always so comfy to sleep on, but today, today she was simply too bony, too hot, too clammy, too, too, too… “Neenie!” She whined miserably, wanting to feel better and wiggling madly.

The older witch finally groaned. “Stop, Luna, I’m getting up.” She declared as she pushed the little girl gently from her chest. As she sat in the bed she let the covers that had been over them fall and placed the blonde on her lap, brushing back the long locks that fell on her face. “You are coming with me and do as I say, okay?”

“No!” Luna cried, her voice breaking at her sore throat, guessing that her Neenie wanted to take her to Madame Pomfrey. “Don’t take me there!” Fat tears started running down her cheeks, tears of fear, of frustration, of pain.

“Hey, love, love, calm down.” Hermione cooed. She gently kissed the way too hot forehead and frowned. She rested her forehead against Luna’s and confirmed her guessing. “You’ve a fever, Little Moon.”

“Don’t let her near me!” The little girl shivered, missing the warmth of the heavy covers and her lovable friend.

The brunette sighed yet again. The fear Luna had for the school’s matron was unreasonable and just a little concerning. “I won’t take you with Poppy, I swear.” She declared gently. “You’ll take a cool bath and then we’ll have some soup… after that is nap time.”

Luna hid her face on the crook of Hermione’s neck and tried to inhale her snowy cinnamon scent through her blocked nose, failing miserably. “Bath with me?” She whimpered pitifully, she so did not want to be alone.

Hermione blinked astonished at that. Well, if she was true to herself she was more surprised that she was surprised than the fact that Luna wanted to bath with her. This was her Little Moon, after all, the girl who calmed herself by sucking on one of _her_ breasts and groping the other. Honestly speaking, it had taken too long for the girl to ask to bath together. “Sure, love. I’ll even wash your hair.”

“Really?”

“Yes, love, really.”

XxXxX

The little blonde sighed and smiled as she cuddled closer to the source of warmth that she most loved, even with her slight headache she was in heaven.

Hermione could not help but chuckle. They had been in the same position for over an hour now and every few minutes Luna would sigh and cuddle into her more. She made a mental note to thank her Mama for such a huge bathtub… she was not sure they would have fit together in any other one, especially given the way they were laying together.

The brunette lay with her torso supported in a small slope she had conjured on the tub. Her shoulders and the top of her chest were above the water and it helped cool the easily heated witch. She was humming softly while a wet hand played with the loose strands of blonde hair that floated in the barely warm water.

Luna was sitting sideways on her lap. One of her hands on her mouth, gently sucking her thumb, while the other feathery caressed the skin where Hermione’s solver pendant rested. She would have been sucking on her nipple, but she had discovered early in the bath that latching on the underwater little thing was both gross to her taste-buds and painful for her lungs. If Hermione had not demanded that they had a lavender bath, and that the water covered most of their bodies, the girl would have been happier.

But, as the older witch was really nasty, she had to comfort herself with she was given and by resting her head in the brunette’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me.” Hermione chided with a smile in her voice.

Luna groaned. After her sleepless night the little blonde was ready to drop dead. Not only did the lovely smell relax her but the soft humming was lulling her to sleep. “But I’m tired!” She whined around her thumb.

“Then let’s get out of here.” Hermione kissed the top of her head. “I want you to eat something.” She gently pushed the blonde from her.

“Not hungry!” She grumbled as she shifted yet again, this time trying to prevent the older witch from moving her too far from her. The little girl let go of her thumb in order to embrace the brunette’s neck and hid her face in it. She moved her legs to straddle one of the older witch’s thighs, sitting flat on it and prompting her knee to thrust hard onto Hermione’s center.

The Gryffindor froze in place. A little shiver run through her as a hot wave of pleasure shot from her most private area. She closed her eyes, biting down a moan when Luna wiggled, trying to find a more comfortable spot above her. With shaking hands she grabbed the lithe hips of her lovely friend and softly called. “Stop, Little Moon.”

Luna ceased al movement, wondering why on Earth Hermione was trembling so bad. “You okay?” She asked concerned.

“Need to pee.” The brunette replied somewhat honestly… the feeling was been a lot closer to peeing than she liked. And even though Luna had stopped moving, her feeling was no ending. “You’re pressing down my bladder, love.”

The blonde frowned. Her Neenie was lying to her again and she was not sure why. She could understand that she was making the older girl nervous, just as she had done that first time she had sucked her nipple, but they were having a nice, long, bath, nothing too strange. Hermione had been pretty content until now.

It could not be that she was practically hugging her with her whole body, no, she was always looking for excuses to hug her like this through the day. It could not be that they were naked, they lived together and they were always seeing parts of each other, neither of them were shy about their bodies. It could also not be the way she was leaning in her, no, when she sucked Neenie’s breast at night they undoubtedly had much more skin contact. Then why was Hermione so bothered?

She sat back to see her friend’s face better, unknowingly grinding her knee deeper into Hermione. This time the moan could not be contained. A low, throaty rumble resonated in the bathroom while hands clenched tightly pale hips.

A blissful sensation ripped in waves through Hermione from her center out, startling her immensely. She was not ignorant of her body’s needs, she was more than aware of what was happening to her. She blushed, for the first time in her life the redness did not stop at her face, but spread all down her chest and upper stomach, making her hot even in the almost cold water.

“Oh, sweet Merlin.” She breathed out once she crashed down to Earth. It had been not the most intense orgasm she had had, but it was certainly the most satisfying so far. It had been just different at what she was used to. It had not been like the painful yet pleasurable feeling she got from Viktor, nor was the butterfly feeling she experienced when Fleur touched her, nor the stiff desperation when she rubbed herself. No, this was totally different, it had moved not only her body but her soul felt like it was shaking and soaring.

Luna looked at her in wonder, her eyes wide open, drinking the sight in front of her. Never had she seen something more beautiful that her how her friend was at the moment. Her Neenie’s skin was flushed a rosy red that glistered with the droplets of water on her shoulders and upper chest. With her eyes were tightly shut and her mouth slightly agape she made it for a picture the blonde would always treasure. This, this image of utter perfection would forever be implanted in her memory.

“Luna, get off.” Hermione commanded softly. Now that the pleasure was gone the guilt set in and threatened to consume her. Luna was only thirteen for God’s sake. She was a little second year, an innocent child that was in many ways too pure to tannish her with her filthy hormones. She was ashamed, her heart clenching in pain and her stomach full of lead, at the way she had taken advantage of her little love, even if the younger girl, by the looks of it, was none the wiser.

“You okay?” The blonde asked again, but this time she scooted back from the taller girl, not really understanding what had happened to her friend, but knowing enough to know she had made her feel bad.

“Yeah.” The Gryffindor whispered. She could not believe what kind of monster she was. Getting up from her comfy place at the tub she let the water cascade down her body and had to suppress the need to cover herself in front her friend. Once out the tub she started toweling herself, preferring the feel of the cloth than the drying charms Vati and Lav had taught her. “I’ll go make us some soup, then it’s nap time.” She said before leaving the room.

The younger girl stared at the retiring form of her brunette, a cute frown on her face as her headache intensified. What on Merlin’s beard had just happened?!

XxXxX

Luna sipped slowly her soup; her spoon lay forgotten on the table as she cradled the warm blow in both her hands and gently took the smallest drinks out of it. It was delicious, as anything Hermione cooked, yet it did not taste well with her.

The older girl sat opposite her eating her own soup, contrary as she always did when they were eating in their rooms, contrary of the seat next to her she always took when they were doing homework. Just as she always sat next to her at the Gryffindor table at the Great hall, just as she always sat next to her in the library… it was the very first time Hermione sat away from her. It hurt.

“Did I do something wrong?” She asked finally, letting her bowl rest in the table. The soup felt like rocks in her stomach and she had only eating a quarter of what the brunette had served her. She was afraid she would throw it up if her tummy kept knotting, and it was not caused by the sickness in her, no, although that was helping.

Hermione looked at her friend and saw the fear in her eyes, the utter panic of being told off. “No, Little Moon.” She sighed. How could she explain herself without making her friend feel bad? Without making her little love feel rejected? Without making the older girl look like the degenerate she was? “I did.”

Luna tilted her head to the side, wondering why her friend sounded so miserable and sad. She quickly recalled the past few days, what they had done, what they had eaten, what they had studied… nothing was out of place, everything they had done was the same as always. Hermione surely had not done anything wrong. “What did you do?”

The brunette groaned and massaged her temples as she had seen her Mama do in several occasions. That thought made her heart hurt, what would her Mama think of her? But more importantly, how could she explain her Little Moon what she had done? It was not like she could expect her bad behavior go unnoticed. “I did something extremely bad in the bath, Luna, I’m sorry.” She said softly. “I’m so sorry, Little Moon.”

The younger girl blinked confused. “But you did nothing wrong.” Hermione had washed her hair as she promised, she had washed her back and she had let her to cuddle her, so no, her Neenie did nothing wrong.

“Yes I did!” She said a little too loudly. She sighed, knowing that if she did not explain herself the girl before her would feel bad about herself. “When your knee went between my legs I felt something I shouldn’t feel, Luna. It was a feeling I’d had before but in situations way too different from this one. I shouldn’t have felt that, love, I’m sorry I did.”

 Luna blinked again. She was a fairly intelligent witch, Hermione and Professor Greenwood had told her so, so why did she not understand? “What did you felt?”

Hermione blushed and it remained the younger girl of the lovely flush she had sported at the end of their bath. “Something bad.”

“You felt bad? Did I give you my bug?”

“No. I felt amazing.” She confessed her blushing intensifying. “But I shouldn’t feel that, I’m sorry.”

The blonde frowned. Hermione was avoiding eye contact and that only meant one thing. “Was it because of me, right? Because I hit you with my knee?”

“In a way.” Hermione conceded. She was so not going to explain Luna what had happened… that was her daddy’s job, not hers… although maybe she was better asking someone else to explain it to her, nobody knew what Mr. Lovegood could come up with.

The younger girl’s eyes suddenly filled with tears, her head was pounding and she was tired. What Hermione just said simply made her heart break. “I’m sorry I made you feel bad.” Even though she did not move it was like she had curled onto herself and it was a painful remainder for Hermione that the girl was more fragile than she looked. “I won’t bother you again.”

“Luna, no!” The brunette yelled when the little blonde started to stand up. “No, it was my fault and- and I’ll explain to you why I reacted that bad. It wasn’t you, I promise.” To hell with her fear of being seeing like a child molester monster, her Little Moon was thinking she was the reason why she was so bothered and that did not sit well with her. No matter that it indeed was the girls fault, it was not really hers, it was Hermione’s.

Luna sniffled and rubbed her eye tiredly. “Really?”

The brunette could not repress the guilt within her, how could she get off with her Little Moon? “Really love.” She closed her eyes. “I love you, Luna, no matter what happens next, remember that I love you.” She knew she would not continue living if Luna hated her for what she did, but that was better than having her friend thought she was at fault and in panic because of her.

And so, for the next hour or so, she had to explain to a tired and sick little girl what sex was and why it had been highly impropriate for Hermione to feel so good because of her.

And why they needed to stop before it was too late.

 

# Chapter Thirty-One – Banned Spells

“Did you really think you can escape us?”

Luna froze in place. She knew this day was coming, she was just hoping it would come much later or when she was at least more prepared. She turned and looked at the girl that had addressed her and her friend. She gulped silently as she smelled that two more persons were suddenly behind her. She was trapped in the narrow hallway.

She had just exited the library were she had read all the books she could find on sex and relationships. She had understood what Hermione had explained her, but she could not wrap the reasons why she had felt so bad, it was not logical. She understood it had been because she was too young, or so Neenie had said, but she did not feel molested, as the brunette had thought, in fact she felt elated. Hermione had an orgasm because of her and, according to her barely there knowledge, that was a good thing. She figured that if she read through the books in the library on the subject she could have enough ammunition to convince her friend she should not feel bad because she felt good.

It had been a week since their ‘talk’ and Hermione refused to dress in the same room as her now, just as she refused to sleep topless and let her suck her nipple through the night. Luna missed _her_ tanned, soft, breasts, because they were hers to suck at any moment she wanted, and she was going to fight for them. She understood why Hermione feel bad and so she had to make her feel comfortable around her again. Hence the library trip she had done. 

“Hello, Cho.” The blonde said in her dreamy voice that conveyed nothing of her sudden fear. “Hello, Marietta.” And without turning she also greeted the ones behind her. “Hello Mandy, hello Terry.”

Cho sneered. “Loony, we’ve missed you, there hadn’t been anyone around to punch.”

Luna flinched internally. “I wasn’t aware Pixicakes were punch bags.” No, she did was aware, but Cho did not know that.

“Again with the stupid monsters?” Mandy’s voice came from somewhere over her left shoulder. “You should know by now it only makes it harder for you.”

Marietta chuckled. “But it makes it funnier for us.” At that the four Claws laughed merrily. They really did miss the little blonde.

Luna frowned. Her Neenie had been teaching her many different spells to guard herself from this kind of situations but she knew she was still too green to duel four older students. So she did the best next thing her Neenie told her to.  “Why do you do this?” She asked quietly.

Cho frowned as Marietta’s eyes widened. “Did you actually speak normally?” Terry asked from behind her right.

The blonde blinked. “I know how to speak, you know?” Hermione had told her that her speaking was the main reason she was teased, so she had suggested to start speaking like a ‘normal’ person.

That simple statement made all the four Ravenclaws paused a moment as they wondered what on Earth had happened to their Loony Lovegood. Cho was the first to recover, though. “Enough!” She yelled at her open mouthed housemates. “She’s the same Loony as always. She needs to be reminded of who she is. Don’t you Loony?”

“Um, no. I’m pretty sure I’m Luna Sophia Lovegood, thank you very much.”

The Asian witch snarled. This Loony, though different, was the same one they had been tormenting for the last couple of years. She was the same dreamy-eyed little blonde prone to crying and always reciting stupid fairy tales. “I don’t care about your bloody name, scum. You owe us some laughs and I’ll like them paid.”

Luna tilted her head to the right, her long hair obscuring slightly her face. “Paid? I owe you nothing.” Part of her brain understood what she was saying, but the rest started wandering if laughs could be bought.

“You left the House ever since term started! Of course you owe us! You owe the House!” Marietta cried.

The little blonde giggled. “Didn’t the Headmistress tell you? I’m not longer a Claw.” She smiled. “I no longer part of the worst House ever.” 

“You stupid hag!” Terry’s voice called to her while Mandy vocally protested.

“We’ll show you the worst House ever.” Cho growled. “Rictusempra!”

Luna’s blood ran cold. While the Tickling Charm could be easily deflected or avoided in a normal duel, giving the close proximity between the Asian witch and herself she knew the charm would do her some serious damage. She was ready to receive her pain when a sudden voice yelled just a millisecond after Cho’s charm left her wand.

“Protego!”

The little blonde’s eyes widened when she silver light that was sent her way bounced on the fast forming shield that appeared a few inches in front of her.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

The same, male voice yelled and Luna heard as two heavy objects feel behind her.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” That voice was fairly familiar but she was sure she had only heard it once or twice and never directed to her.

“Stay out of this, Malfoy.” The name was spat with so much disgust that for a moment Luna was no sure she had heard correctly. “This’s none of your business.” Cho declared hotly as the little blonde glanced behind her and saw for herself who was her savior.

And there he was, tall, lean, pale and blond, the Slytherin Prince was advancing to them, sidestepping the two fallen Claws and never lifting his gaze from the two others in front of her.

“Really? Because it looks that you’re ganging up to a second year when half of you are six years and the other are fifths… tell me, is that what you practice in your poor excuse of a House?” He sneered with a patented Malfoy scowl in his face.

Luna swirled in time to see dark wand being swung in a rather strange manner she had never seen before.

“Tarantallegra!”

“Protego!” Draco shouted again at Marietta’s charm before he chuckled. “Really? That’s barely a curse… what kind of things you pigeons learn at your House?”

“I’ll show you a curse. Mucus ad Nauseam!” Cho yelled.

“Protego!” Draco scoffed. He was now right besides Luna. Never lowering his wand or taking his eyes from the witches before them he whispered quietly to the blonde. “Get behind me and do not move from there.” In a louder voice he kept taunting. “I’d expect something more… advanced. Calvario!”

The red light hit Cho square in the chest and the proud Claw instantly found the floor around her covered in dark, long, silky locks. The Asian witch cried in despair as her hand flew to her head and felt the smooth, soft, hairless skin of her skull. “What’ve you done?!” She sobbed.

Marietta, however, did not wait to hear the snake’s response and in an instant had sent a rather nasty stinging spell towards the two blonds. Marietta had never been the best in DADA class and she was rather slow in dueling, not to mention her terrible aim, that was why Draco could do nothing but see how the white light barely missed him and hit the little girl behind him in the shoulder.

“Argh!” Luna yelled in sudden pain as she clutched her injured arm. She could feel the heat on the spot she had been hit and she could also feel how her arm became alight in hot, angry acid.

Draco did not turn to see the damage done to the girl, but he was fairly certain that the spot she had been hit was starting to form several blisters and cuts. He was fairly familiar with that particular curse as it had been one of the first taught to the Death Eaters’ children. It was not only a curse bordering in the Unforgivable ones, no, it was also a rather painful one and that had no real counter-spell. The only thing one could do when hit with it was to apply salve on the blisters, clean the cuts and wait out the pain.

“Are you stupid or what?!” He snarled, now truly angry as the little blonde started sobbing in agony. “That spell is forbidden in the school!” Cho face was frozen in shock as Marietta sent the same curse to Draco who easily deflected it. “Dammit, woman! Glacius!”

The floor beneath the two Ravenclaws was covered in thin ice, making it impossible for them to move in fear of falling. However, Marietta was obviously misplaced in her House when she decided to keep attacking. “Diffindo!”

The Snake’s eyes widened but he managed to shield them from the rather poor thrown cutting curse. This Claw was crazy, he was sure of it. While casting spells that were no school related was severely punished, there was indeed a list of spells that were, under any circumstance, banned in the school’ halls. Most of them ones that could cause irreparable damage if not casted properly and many others that were far too dangerous to cast unsupervised… such as the spells being thrown by Miss Edgecombe.

Knowing he needed to stop this madness before the girl crying behind him could get more hurt, and before he lost his common sense and used an Unforgivable, he prompted all his will behind his next spell. “Expelliarmus!”

The more trained, and better prepared, boy managed to disarm both the stunned Cho and the panting Marietta, the force of his spell making them sway in the ice and fall in their asses. The now bald, Asian witch, looked at him with wonder and a little of fear, while her friend sent daggers at the blond that was red in the face with anger before said blond promptly bound them as he had done Terry and Mandy.

“You stupid fools!” He all but growled. “As soon as I get Miss Lovegood to the Infirmary I’ll notify the Headmistress of the use of forbidden spells within the school. You lot will be expelled within the day.” The petrified witches’ eyes widened in terror, Draco could almost hear their pleading and begging. Turning in his spot he was immediately at the other blonde’s side. “Luna?” He asked tentatively. “Let me get you to Madame Pomfrey.”

“No!” Luna cried between sobs. The pain was making her faint, yet she was lucid enough to know she was not visiting the Infirmary any time soon.

“Luna!” Draco pleaded, all his anger replaced by concern. Her sweater and shirt were torn from where she had been hit, uncovering her whole arm and he could see the angry blisters that scattered on her skin down her arm and, by the spots on the sweater, over her chest. “You need to see Pomfrey!”

The littler blonde shook her head. “I-I want N-Neeni-e.” She cried, tears running down her cheeks.

The young wizard frowned. Neenie? There was no one in school named like that. Was that an elf? No, that name actually made less sense than an elf name. That could only be one of the girl’s imaginary creatures, then. Hermione should know. Hermione! “Are you talking about Hermione?”

Luna simply nodded. It hurt too much.

The Slytherin gently picked the girl up, making sure her injured side made no contact with anything. He had suffered from that same curse once and was aware of the unbearable pain any kind of contact created. “Tell me where to go.”

“Gryf-findor Tow-wer.” She gulped. “Prot-thos!”

Draco started running to the Lion’s den. He was pretty sure where he was going as Hermione once mentioned her quarters were just a hallway down the Gryffindor Entrance. He was not sure what Porthos meant, though, so he knew he had little time before Luna blacked out and was unable to help him search for their friend.

In the shadows a certain dungeon bat watched with trepid fascination how the Scion of Malfoy betrayed his own foundation and his own House. He smiled. He would make sure the boy regretted the day he defended McGonagall’s little blonde friend.

XxXxX

“So, this one goes here, right?”

“Yep. See? Runes and Arithmancy are fun.”

“They’re okay… just not my cup of tea.”

Hermione sighed. She had hoped to make Harry fall in love with the two classes she loved the most besides Transfiguration, but then again, Harry was indeed lazy on his best days. Runes and Arithmancy were by far the hardest subjects the school had to offer and required hours upon hours of studying and memorizing. “Fair enough.”

They were sitting in Hermione and Luna’s sitting room doing their homework and chatting around. Harry had become a permanent visitor of them and had even spent some nights over, talking and getting to know Luna and playing games with his favorite ladies.

“Hey,” Harry called to her a few minutes later. “Isn’t Luna taking too long?”

The brunette glanced at the clock above her fireplace which clearly indicated that it was already half past eight. Luna’s curfew ended at eight and the little blonde was always on time. As she no longer could lose House points the only punishment she could face was detention and writing lines and those were the ones she hated the most. “I shouldn’t let her go alone.” She muttered as she played worriedly with her pendant.

Hermione has been feeling a little dread when Luna has asked her to go to the library alone before bed, she said she had wanted to return a reference book she had been using and wanted to prove she did not need a bodyguard anymore. As term had resumed they noticed that all of their classes were next each other, allowing Hermione walk the second year to each one of them daily, thanks to her Prefect rights she was even able to walk Luna to and from Astronomy class. It had been a blessing, even though now it was just uncomfortable.

Harry smiled slightly. Over the last months he had learned all about the Ravenclaws and their love to bother Luna. First he had been offended for the girl and had wanted to storm on the Claw’s House and ex everybody in sight, however the little blonde he had come to love like his own little sister had managed to extract a promise to do nothing foolish. “She’s fine, just a little late, is all.” He said to convince himself as her as well.

“I-” Hermione was interrupted by a deep voice that came from her right.

“Lady McGonagall, you’ve a visitor with an injured Lady Luna, ma’am.” The frantic voice of Porthos called to her urgently from the little frame that rested on the shelf inside her rooms. “She’s bleeding, ma’am!”

The brunette was up before the portrait could even finish the first sentence and opened the entrance a second later. “Luna!” She saw the bloodied arm and the red spots on her sweater the young man that was carrying her fainted friend. “Draco, what happened?!”

“Malfoy!” The angry voice of Harry came behind her. “What did you do?!”

The panting Slytherin ignored him looking at Hermione dead in the eye. “Chang and her goons attacked her.”

“Don’t lie, you bloody bas-”

“Harry! Stop!” Hermione’s reprimanding voice left the raven haired boy with his insult half out his mouth. “You!” She pointed at Draco. “Through that door and into the bathroom. And you,” She grabbed Harry by the robes and pushed him out the room while Draco ran past them towards the bathroom. “Got get my Mama.”

“But-”

“Go, Harry! Go! The password is ‘Barrow’s Lion’!” She yelled as she turned to follow the two blondes into the bathroom. “And don’t let Madame Pomfrey come here!”

The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice saw as the portrait closed in his face and a second later he was sprinting as fast as he could towards the Headmistress’ office.

 

# Chapter Thirty-Two – Witches and Flowers

“It’s almost time for Easter break, Minerva, how long now to know?”

The old Headmistress sighed. It had been little more than three months since they had wanted to know who the Heir of the House of Black was, if she was indeed in school. It was indeed two weeks until break and they were no nearer to know. “I’m sorry, Sirius, Severus don’t want to teach the potion and Professor Slughorn is currently unavailable. There is no one that has the credentials to teach that potion, I’m afraid.”

“Is there no other way?”

“I’m afraid no.” The witch rubbed her temples with both hands. This had been a hard term with all the paperwork the adoption of her daughter had caused, not to mention all the normal school paperwork. It did not help that most the Professors were constantly bugging her about Hermione and how she had been not fair and let them all compete for her.

“What about me?” The slightly worn out Auror asked. He had just come in after a long raid at one of the safe houses they had been tipped was being used by Death Eaters. They had managed to capture the Carrow siblings and several low rank wannabe Dark followers, only killing Crabbe Senior in the process. It had been a good night so far. “I know the potion and I was the one to bring the ingredients. We need to know, Minerva, we can’t lose more time.”

Especially if Narcissa kept bothering him. She had been owling him constantly, always asking if he knew where her niece were. The blonde Black had been in the verge of a nervous breakdown since she had found out her little Ella was alive and wanted nothing more than to have her in her arms like when she was a baby, even when the girl was now sixteen. He himself was also utterly curious to know what kind of daughter could have possibly been born of the Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange.

“And how do you propose we do that?” The old witch asked with concern and a little hint of defeat. “It’s not the matter that there are no one who knows the potion, it is a fairly easy one to make, but we need a good enough cover for it to be taught.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t possibly go around teaching potions that aren’t common in England without a sound reason. Severus was asked to teach because we received a generous and mysterious donation of the required ingredients, among others I also mail in around the same time. When he said no I asked Horace if he could come and give a small seminar on rare, while easy, potions, in which I asked he taught the Namae Suiyaku. Minerva somewhat explained. “I can’t really think on another way we can teach it without raising suspicions.”

Sirius leaned back in his arm chair, mulling what he had been told. True to his Marauder’s heart he started thinking on all the possibilities that could help them achieve their goals. Minerva was right; they needed a good enough cover so nobody, in both the school and the Ministry, could know they were looking for someone in special. It would do no good for the Headmistress and the Black name if they knew they were looking for Lord Voldemort’s daughter.

“I’m an Auror,” He declared after a while. “Harry Potter, the most famous wizard in England, is in my care. As I love my little pup I obviously want nothing more than to make sure he knows how to recognize if people are deceiving him, right?”

The old woman nodded, not knowing where her former student’s mind was wandering.

“What if I ask the Ministry permission to teach the kids a small seminar on how to recognize if a person is glamoured, polyjuiced or had concealed their magic?” His eyes started sparkling at the idea, knowing it was something of a prank to his employers. “And what if, because the school already have the resources, I also teach them the Namae Suiyaku? I can always claim that people can verbally change their names, but it’s impossible to do it magically.”

Minerva blinked, actually stunned. She briefly wondered how Sirius was not sorted in Slytherin after all, that plan was marvelous. “And because it is for your own godson’s benefit you can teach it from the fifth years onwards, not bothering with the younger ones.” She smiled, this plan could actually work. “After all you are gracious enough to teach it to more students than Harry.”

Sirius beamed. Truthfully it was only a half-baked plan, but the Headmistress had just smiled at his plan, she actually liked it. “If we hurry I can have the Ministry’s approval by the time school starts anew.”

“My lovely Sirius, you are indeed the greatest prankster of all the time.”

The man actually blushed. Having the stern Professor not only smiled to him, but to praise him was surreal. Not even when he had been a student at Hogwarts had the then Transfiguration teacher complimented him. “Why thank you, Headmistress.”

The witch sighed again. She knew she needed to be truthful with the man, and she was always so firm with Hermione and her lying habit. She felt totally hypocrite. “I have something to tell you, Sirius.” She said somberly.

The blushing man perked up at that. The tone of her voice did not sit well with him. “What is it?”

“I believe I know who she is.”

“What?!”

The Headmistress sighed yet again. “Do you know who Morgen is?”

“My cousin’s daughter.” He said confused.

“Yes, but it’s also a name that’s been around for almost a year now. Since the day Voldemort was defeated.”

Sirius scowled. He knew the name had been familiar to him the first tie he heard it from Narcissa, but he had forgotten all about it, though. His cousin always referred to the girl as Ella and the Morgen part of the name had been promptly dismissed from his mind. “You know I’m not really up to date with the current events, I spent all my time chasing after the elusive Death Eaters and, thought I know I’ve heard it, I’m not sure where.”

“Are you aware I’ve adopted Mr. Potter’s friend, Hermione?” She asked, her gaze lost somewhere behind his shoulder.

The Auror blinked and fought the need to look over his left shoulder. When did they change topics? “Yes, Harry had mentioned it once or twice in his letters.” And he was sure there was a Prophet article about it somewhere lying around.

“Hermione was there with Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley when Voldemort was killed. He- he-” she gulped, tears of despair starting to run down her cheeks. “He called my baby Morgen!” She sobbed.

The worn out wizard gasped, both astonished at seeing such fierce and strong woman cry and at realizing his pup’s best friend was called _that_. “Why?” He asked alarmed.

“I don’t know!” She cried. “We all heard when she called her that as he was dying and she confessed to me not long ago that he kept repeating the same name over and over again all the time they were fighting. The press dubbed her Morgen because that’s what that damn man called her.”

Sirius paled. That could not be right. Hermione was the smartest witch her age… or even the smartest witch in the century. He had heard several praises from both Remus and Tamsin, always calling her the most powerful witch they had come across in their lives. Tamsin had even claimed that the girl could do wandless magic, something everybody knew was a feat only achieved after several years of training and studying. Dumbledore held the position of the youngest wizard to manage wandless magic at the age of twenty-three, Hermione was Harry’s age. Her being Voldemort’s child was just too dangerous. “Maybe he got confused.” He suggested not that all convinced, she was powerful enough to be the Black Head of House.

Minerva dried the last of her tears. “That’s what I hope, Sirius. I don’t want my baby hurt if I’m right.”

The wizard sighed. “Do you really believe she is his daughter?”

“I think so. She’s too comfortable with her magic to be Muggle-born and her parents’ disappearance is too coincidental…” She voiced for the first time what was scaring her so. If Hermione was Voldemort, why had she being raised by Muggles? And, did their absence have anything to do with who the girl really was?

“What do you mean?”

“She was never close to her parents and I believe she was constantly ignored by them. She always spent all her time with her grandmother but Hermione admits she wasn’t really loved, sh-”

The Headmistress was interrupted by an intense pounding on her front door. She quirked an eyebrow. Not many knew the password to her private rooms, and those who knew knew better than to make so much noise. If this was Hermione trying to be funny, as she had the habit of doing, then she was in for a harsh scolding. “Come in.” She called, her stern professor voice in full swing.

Nothing would have prepared them for the sight of a sweaty Harry Potter barreling into the sitting room.

XxXxX

“What happened?”

The gentle fall of water could be heard from insides the bathroom.

“I left the library and took the East Hall, I was going to start my early rounds when I heard sounds and found Luna in a bit of a predicament”

Hermione scoffed from the other side of the door. “Really? That’s it?”

Draco’s face kept serious as he answered. “I rather tell when your mother is here, Mia.”

A pause and a soft groan from the blonde. “Why? Let me remind you I helped defeat Voldemort, I can take all the gory details.”

The blond that was waiting just outside the bathroom door winced at the use of that name. No matter how much his lovely friend wanted him to call the Dark Lord by his chosen name, he just still could not. “I want her here so you don’t do anything stupid.”

“Me? Stupid?” Hermione laughed but it was clearly strained and fake. “I don’t do stupid.”

“Want me to go down the list? Let’s start with that troll, shall we? After that you star-”

“Fine! Fine, I do stupid.” She grumbled. “No need to go down memory lane, Drake.”

Draco allowed himself a small smirk at that. “But I’d love to, Mia!” He whined playfully. He knew both were simply trying not to think about the little blonde suffering from a rather nasty curse.

“I’m done here, Drake, help me out, please?”

The tall blond left his place leaning against one bookcase and entered the bathroom. He stayed immutable at the sight that greeted him. Several bloodied cloths were around the floor, the also bloodied uniform was crumbled in a pile next the door. The tub was halfway filled with reddish water and besides it kneeled Hermione cradling a towel clad Luna. “Here, let me.” He murmured as he picked the little blonde with the upmost care, adverting his eyes when the towel dropped a tad to reveal a very nude witch. “Where do you want her?”

“Bedroom.” The brunette stood up and guided him to where she wanted the girl put. “Put her on the bed, Drake.”

Draco did as told and promptly turned to not see how Hermione started dressing the girl’s cuts. “Remember, don’t use any magic, Mia.” He reminded her for the tenth time.

“I got that the first time, thanks.” The older witch grumbled. “Are you telling me why?” She trusted the boy’s judgment and if he said no magic, then it was no magic. She just wanted to know why, though.

“Not unless your mother is here.” He busied himself looking around the definitely girly bedroom. It was way too much purple for him. “What’s with you witches and flowers?” He wondered as he inspected the wallpaper that had the most minuscule little roses engraved on it.

“I’m a girl.” Hermione simply said.

“So? Daphne is also a girl but she hates flowers.” He ran a finger down the complicated flowery pattern of the wall. “She burns them.”

“Really?” The brunette said from his right. “How would you know that?” She inquired as she looked up to him while cleaning her hands on a rag. “I’m done with Luna, let’s go wait for Mama.”

Draco glanced at the bed and had to suppress his face from showing the concern he had for the little blonde. He had seen grown men cry at the pain the curse caused as he had seen several of them passing out the moment they were hit. Luna had not only lasted long enough to point him in the right direction to her quarters, but had also managed to withstand the pain somehow quietly. Looking her there, with her chest and arm covered in bandages, resting gently in the bed made him realize the girl was braver than all the Death Eaters he had met. “I think Potter should be back soon.”

Hermione led him to the sitting room and was no surprised when she noticed both Harry and her mother entering the room, although she was surprised at seeing Sirius with them. She raised an eyebrow and deciding to ignore him turned to his best _male_ friend. “There she is.” She stated clearly. “Now tell me what happened.”

“I’ll tell you what happened!” Harry cried in anger. His trek to fetch the Headmistress had managed to calm him down a little, as had done the shock at seeing his godfather, but seeing the taller Slytherin Prince in his _sisters_ ’ rooms just made his blood boil. “He attacked her and was cynical enough to come here with her all bloodied and hurt!”

“I helped her, Potter, sh-”

“Don’t lie!” Harry interrupted the blond wizard, angered that he was trying to make himself the hero of the situation.

Draco raised an elegant eyebrow and simply turned to the brunette at his side. With a little inclination of his head he motioned to the other boy in the room and with a gentle wave of his hand he silently asked her to intervene. He was also stunned at the sight of his uncle, but there were more urgent matters at hand. 

Hermione sighed. She had hoped this particular reunion would be staged somewhere in the near future but with the express agreement of all the parties involved… and without a hurt Luna laying a room from them. “Harry, meet my best friend Draco. Drake, meet my little brother Harry. You two already know my mother, and you two already know Sirius. Now, could you, Draco, tell me what happened to my Luna?”

The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice looked at her as if she had grown another head but before he could ask anything the Headmistress spoke for the first time. “What happened to Luna?” She glanced at the raven haired boy. “Mister Potter only told me that you needed me.”

Draco took a deep breath and started telling them what exactly had happened to the little blonde and the four Ravenclaws that were surely still waiting in the East Hall.

XxXxX

Ginny groaned. She had not seen Harry since the day after the Hogsmeade visit he had stooped her up. She missed the boy, she missed his smile and his carefree attitude, yet what she really missed was the spotlight that came with being his girlfriend… and the possibility of having his fortune one day.

They had not done more than hold hands and peck each other cheeks, but Merlin’s balls, how she needed him to be her arm warmer.

Ron was suffering the same luck. Quidditch season was over, so he could no longer parade around and brag over all his amazing saves, no, her was now reduced to ‘the younger Weasley boy’ just as she was now called as ‘the Weasley girl’. It was maddening, unbelievable and quite frankly, embarrassing, that they were not even noticed in the Common Room anymore.

She needed her Boy-Who-Lived-Twice back. She needed her spotlight, and fortune, back.

 

# Chapter Thirty-Three – Would you do me the honor?

Silently tears run down her cheeks and she could do nothing to ease the pain in her chest. It was her fault she was hurt, both physically and emotionally. It was her fault she had gone to the library, it was her fault she had been attacked. It was her fault she was lying in their bed, bloodied and with boils all over her upper arm and chest.

“I’m so sorry, Little Moon.” She whispered in her hair. She was lying down next to her Luna, careful not to touch anything hurt and hiding her face on the flaxen silks of her friend’s head. “I know you didn’t go to return a book, I know you went to study what I told you… I’m sorry Luna, I’m so sorry. Please, Luna, I love you.”

It had been a good thing that Draco had waited until her Mama was in the room to actually explain why Luna was hurt. Had she knew before the Headmistress arrived that Chang, Boot, Brocklehurst and Edgecombe had surrounded Luna and that the stupid Edgecombe had been the one to send her way a rather Dark stinging spell, one Draco had told them he was fairly familiar with as it was one of the most popular among the Death Eaters, she would have go there herself and kill them. It had taken both her Mama and Sirius to restrain her… although the stinging hand of her Mama in her backside had done much of the work.

If Luna had not been hurt by a curse that was untreatable she would have smile at her blond male friend because the way he had talked to them so sure of himself about Death Eater business. With Lucius gone he had blossomed in such a gentle man, honorable and courageous. He had been so different to that little eleven years old that had presented his hand to Harry for a shake that the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice had been speechless for the whole time they had gathered.

But no, Luna was hurt because she had gone alone to the library in order to study a subject Hermione should not have taught her. She knew she had insisted on going alone so she did not knew why she was really going, but the brunette knew her well enough to read her nervousness and willingness to make her change her mind about the way they interacted.

She sighed. Luna was a little girl and she was only months away to be a legal adult in the Wizarding World. She was taking advantage of Luna’s innocence and she was monster for it. She was a disgusting being, no better than any Death Eater, not better than Voldemort himself.

“Neenie?” A trembling voice called to her.

“I’m here, Little Moon, I’m here.” She whispered again, sobbing in relief at the way her little blonde was finally waking. Draco said the curse had been rather weak and way off mark, so the girl should be waking in between one or two days. Thirty-five hours had passed and finally she was shaking off the curse.

The Moros’ Curse was a nasty little one. It was rare as it fed on magic and was uncommon enough that many Healers had never come across for it, which it really was made it so dangerous. The curse was designed to disappear on its own but not many knew that, Healers tend to cast several diagnostic spells and try and mend the boils and burns with magic, which only feed the curse. No potion or spell could be used to eliminate it as it would only make it stronger.

“It h-hurts.” Luna whimpered. Of course it would hurt, it was not called the Moros’ Curse for nothing, as it was the Doom Curse. It was meant to hurt, and hurt badly.

“I’m sorry love, you need to endure it until it’s gone.”

“No!” The true pain in her voice made nothing to stop Hermione’s tears, especially as the girl beside her started sheading her own.

“I’m sorry, Little Moon, there’s nothing we can do. Just bear with it, I’m here. I’m here with you.”

“H-hold me.”  

“I’ll hurt you more, love.”

“H-hold me!”

Hermione grimaced at the desperation behind her plea. Gently, as to not upset her arm and chest more, she put her arms around the petit waist of her little friend, and pulled just slightly so they were as close as possible without hurting Luna more.

The blonde frowned in both anger and impotence. Turning on her side, the one unharmed, she was finally face to face with the woman she loved the most. She pressed herself to her and only cried a little when her hurt chest rubbed with the rough cloth of her friend’s shirt. She did not need to see to know Hermione had her naked from the waist up, not even a bandage was put around her wounds, but it was not really helping with the pain.

“Luna?” Hermione asked confused as the little girl started pulling her shirt up, trying to take it off with her good hand.

“Off!” She whined desperate. “Off!”

“Okay, okay, love, off it is.” The brunette sat momentarily to swiftly pull the shirt over her head, fighting slightly with it when it got tangled with her pendant’s silver chain, and, after a moment of hesitation, also reached behind her back to unhook her bra. It was no surprise when the moment she lay back down Luna latched on the nearest nipple, sucking with enough force to leave bruises. Skin on skin, she did not complain, it was the least thing she could do.

The sucking continued for long moments, the girl switching every few minutes but always working with her mouth fiercely. Through all of this both their tears were still running, both of them crying of pain, of weakness, of fear. Finally the sucking started getting gentler, slower and Hermione realized Luna had fallen asleep, a small smile in her lips amidst all her suffering.

The brunette never followed her to Morpheus’ Land, but instead mourned for her friend’s innocence through the night, all the while one hand caressed soft flaxen silk while the other clutched firmly her circular pendant.

XxXxX

Luna blinked tiredly and instantly saw a sight she had not seen in days. The creamy, tanned skin of her friend was inches form her eyes and she smiled when she noticed the little bundle of happiness in between her lips. She frowned, however, when she noticed the purpling around her friend’s breasts.

“Good day, love.” A rough voice called to her.

The blonde looked up and met deep amber eyes, red around the corners and dried salty streaks of tears on her cheeks. She did not answer, she simply kept sucking.

“Feeling better?” The two days mark had already passed and Luna had spent most of the time asleep… the last ten hours she had spent them sucking her breasts and hugging the stuffing out of her.

Luna nodded, yet she did not let go. The way her Neenie had been acting, this could be her last chance at having her so close, so near her heart.

“I’m glad.” The redness and blistering in her arm and chest was now almost gone. It was a relief the girl was not in pain anymore. “I’m sorry.”

The blonde frowned again. She wanted to tell the older girl off, but she was afraid that once she let go she would never again latch on her. Sighing and knowing that sooner rather than later she would have to detach herself, she simply let go and finally spoke. “Not your fault.” She quickly latched again, maybe if she was quick enough she would be able to stay attached longer.

That childish gesture, so Luna, made Hermione laugh for the first time in days. “Oh, Little Love, I missed you too.” She finally conceded. She had missed Luna’s mouth as much as Luna had missed her breasts.

The blonde detached again and glared at her. “Then why were you so cold?”

Hermione sighed. “I’ve told you, Luna, what I did is not appropriated… you are too young.”

Luna frowned yet again, she was starting to get angry. “I’m not young, I’m turning fourteen in June!”

The brunette shook her head. “And I’m turning seventeen in September. Seventeen as in legally an adult, you know?”

“So?”

“So, you are still a kid.”

The blonde growled, actually growled and the sound took the older witch by surprise. She was shocked enough that she did not see the punch that hit her in the shoulder by a small fist. Once the pain registered she was simply stunned at her Little Moon. “Stop acting this stupid!” She was yelled at. “I’m not a kid and you are not a molester!”

Hermione let herself been hit again by the little fist, this time she was sure she would have a nice bruise in her shoulder to match the ones on her chest, her own anger flaring lightly. “You didn’t even know what was happening.” She hissed and the room grew a little colder.

“Because I trust you to keep me safe.” She was hit again, this time with an open palm just beneath her collar bone.

Holding the hitting hand tightly the brunette snarled. “I violated that trust. And stop hitting me!”

Luna snorted and with her free hand she pinched the older girl’s side. “Happy? No more punching.” She smiled almost sardonically. “And I know when I don’t like things, even if I don’t understand them!”

Hermione jumped at the pinch and was severely tempted to smack the girl’s head upside down. If the little blonde kept this up she would hurt all over before they get up. “How could you? It’s not like you can set right from wrong. You have no experience.”

“And you do?” The younger girl’s tone changed and it confused Hermione for a second. Was that fear behind her words?

“Not really.” She sighed and turned to lie on her back. Eyeing the ceiling she sighed again and gently pulled the smaller girl to her, making her curl around her. “I’ve only been with two persons… both last year and only a handful of times with each.”

Luna gulped. That knowledge made her heart cover with ice and her stomach drop with the weight of heavy lead. “Who?” She asked shakily as her hold on her brunette tightened, never mind the pain it flared in her arm and chest. She needed to know, she needed to know her Hermione was now hers. She needed to know who she was competing with.

“Viktor and Fleur.”

The blonde closed her eyes as tears started leaking from them. She should have known, that was why she still keep in touch with them. There was no way she could ever beat them. They were Triwizard’s Champions, Fleur was an intelligent curse-breaker, and Viktor was a professional Quidditch player. She was just Little Luna, a girl how had no House and no friends other than her Neenie.

“That’s why this is wrong, love.” Hermione whispered not noticing the crying girl her on her chest. “It was better with you than with them… you are a kid and I feel more with you, that’s wrong. I don’t want to hurt you like they hurt me.”

That last comment, so quiet she barely heard it made her tears stop. Gently supporting herself with her good arm she sat halfway to be able to see the older witch’s face. Her Neenie was pained and it had finally dawned to the blonde why she had been so affected by their little bath. Hermione preferred her to others and was scared to lose her if she did something to hurt her. But knowing that they had hurt her only made her need for her acceptance greater, stronger.

“What did they do?”

Hermione smiled sadly at her, yet offered no answer.

Luna’s chest tightened. “Did they…” She asked fearfully.

The brunette closed her eyes and hugged the little blonde to her chest. “No. Everything we did was consensual and I allowed it. That’s what scares me. I agree to them and they hurt me, not on propose, but they did, both of them. We are now friends, but at the time it hurt. Sometimes it still hurts.” Opening her eyes she looked back at those grey orbs she adored. “I can’t let you being hurt like that. I can’t let myself hurting you like that.”

Smiling Luna shifted so she could straddle the brunette and gently lay her chest flat on Hermione’s. “What do you feel when I do this?” She asked in her own whisper as she traced her hand on her chestnut hair and face.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes yet again. “Calm, in peace, happy, safe… turned on.”

“Are you going to hurt me?”

Eyes flew open in alarm. “Never!”

“Then why can’t I make you hurt less? I already make you feel happy and clam, I want to be able to feel good, feel loved. Why can’t you help me feel the same? You know you will never hurt me.”

“It’s wrong and we cannot know if I’d never hurt you.”

“It’s wrong because I’m too young?” She decided to tackle the age problem first, she had no way of fighting about the hurting side of things right now, for that she needed time and more experience, experience she could gain with the brunette at her side.

“Yes. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“But I want to make you feel loved. You are not taking advantage of me.”

“But I do. I do take advantage of you.”

“Your only problem is my age, right?” Luna asked gently but a little annoyed, Hermione was starting to sound like a broken record. “It had nothing to do with me as a whole, right?”

“I love you Luna.” Hermione sat fully with the girl following and straddling her legs. Holding the blonde hips lightly she looked dead in the eyes of the girl she cherished. “You are beautiful, intelligent, brave, funny, witty, cuddly, God, you _are_ perfect. And if I was younger or you older I’d certainly ask you to be more than my friend. I just don’t feel comfortable knowing you are three years my junior and that I can easily hurt you without knowing. They are three years my seniors and they were assholes.”

The younger girl bit her lip and let her eyes wander to the full lips of the brunette that she had not been allowed to kiss since their shared bath. Tangling her hands in the chestnut hair of her friend she barely held her head and let their face get closer. “You won’t hurt me. You would not let yourself to do it. You are not them. I love you too.” She murmured, brushing her pale lips against the warmer ones of the Gryffindor, before she let herself finally kiss her.

Hermione knew what was happening since Luna got so close to her but for the first time in days she did not stop her, she closed her eyes and let the other girl take control of their situation. But this was not the same kind of peck she was used to. This was so different from that first embarrassing brush of lips they had shared that December evening. No, this was a full on kiss. She felt as Luna’s tiny tongue slowly seek entrance on her mouth as it licked featherly her bottom lip.

Intrigued she let her mouth open and was highly surprised to realize that Luna actually knew what she was doing. She felt the soft tongue battle with her own and she was more than happy. Fleur and Viktor had done this to her too, but none of them had put so much love and gentleness behind the act. Fleur had been soft but cold, trying to convince Hermione she was the most perfect one. Viktor had been rough and sloppy, his natural dominance slipping through his lips. They had made their kisses all about themselves, but this one, this one was all about Hermione.

It was simply too amazing to put into words.

“Stop thinking.” The blonde above her briefly stopped the kiss before resuming it with so much passion that it made the brunette whimper. So she simply followed the murmured command, letting herself only feel.

Feel how she was being basically idolized by the younger girl, how Luna was a Goddess and she a humble worshipper being graced by her Highness’ gift. But she was not a young girl, was she? No little girl could be able to light such hot fire on her and still be innocent, no little girl could be able reduce her to pudding with just a simple act.

Finally the need for air was too much for them and had to distance themselves enough to gulp down the much needed oxygen, but they could not go far. A small bridge of saliva connected them as their foreheads rest against each other, panting just barely.

“Be my girlfriend.” It was Luna who interrupted their warm silence.

“What?” Hermione croaked.

“Be my girlfriend. Let me be the one to make you happy, the one who holds you at night, that kiss away your tears, the one that loves you every moment, every hour.” She gently kissed her again. “Every minute, every second of every day.” Pecking her again she continued. “Be mine and let me be yours. I want you to be my first, my always and my last. Be my girlfriend, love, be mine.”

“Luna…” She murmured touched. She was not sure how this wonderful woman could actually want her and trust her not to make her suffer.

The blonde kissed her again, it was less passionate but still as full of love and a lot more gentle. “I need you. Be my girlfriend now, Hermione, as I know that I couldn’t live without you. Let me learn with you, let me love you, let me touch you, let me one day make love to you. Tell me this feels wrong, tell me I’m too stupid, too naïve and I’ll never ask you again, I promise. Tell me you want me, tell me I’m yours and I promise to wait until I’m older.” She gave her another peck, sad tears dripping from her eyes at the thought that this proposal would go unheard. “I promise we will take our time, love, I won’t let you hurt me. We both will make sure of that.”

Hermione could do nothing but stare at this suddenly mature young woman that had swiftly render her speechless. Luna was aware of her concerns and had addressed her deepest fears. She was afraid of hurting what she knew was a pure little blonde, but she was being showed such love that she could really do nothing more than to agree. “Luna Sofia Lovegood, the most amazing woman in the world, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?”

“Yes, my love, yes.” Luna smiled softly a second before attacking her again with her lips. Hermione had many doubts and insecurities, but at least she was a step nearer of beating her fears and hurts. They still had too much to discuss and to learn, but together they were unlimited.

# Chapter Thirty-Four – Interlude II: Easter Break

“What’s that, love?”

“A present.”

“A present?” Hermione asked surprised as she embraced the other witch from behind, peering over her shoulder at what the little girl was doing at the table. It was the first day Easter Break and they had a whole week to roam the castle without worrying about classes and schedules. It had taken no time for Luna to recover from her attack and over the last days they had gladly explore the shift in their relationship. It still amazed the brunette how good it felt to have the little blonde not only as her best friend, but also her girlfriend. “For Draco or Harry? Or it’s mine?”

Luna beamed. “Neither. Is for Cho, Mandy, Terry and Marietta.”

“What the-” The fifth year looked at the gigantic eggs her girlfriend was painting. The little blonde was amazing with a brush and it was obvious she was putting special care in the designs she was creating on the four eggs, each of them different but equally beautiful. “Why?”

The younger witch finished the last stroke of the egg she was working on and gently let it rest on a small enchanted box that would protect it until it was delivered. “Because if they hadn’t attacked me, you wouldn’t be my girlfriend.”   

The brunette blinked owlishly at that. It was kind of true in a weird twisted way. “Fair enough.” She kissed her girlfriend’s cheek, making her giggle. “Where’re ours?” She did not have to say who she was talking about. After the events that had made them finally girlfriends the inevitable had to happen.

It had taken severe begging and pleading but Harry had allowed having a meeting with Hermione’s best _male_ friend. It had been two long, really awkward hours in which Luna and Hermione had to play referee for the Princes of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Draco had been, much to the astonishment of Harry and much to the mirth of Hermione, the perfect gentleman and was calm while trying to talk to Harry. It had been the brunette’s _little brother_ the one who had made things difficult for all of them.

Amazingly enough it had been Luna the one that managed to convince Harry that Draco was only playing a part and that he had not really changed as he had been always the same noble, humble and funny blond. Voldemort and his father had been the ones to make him different at how he was and with both of them gone for good there was nothing that could make force him to be rude and nasty towards them behind closed doors.

Slytherin House was still nasty and full of Pureblood propaganda. Some of the kids, kids from lesser Death Eaters, believed still in what the late Dark Lord professed; only the kids born of the Inner Circle were aware of what exactly the blood supremacy was about. It was not about the blood status for Voldemort, no, he was half-blood himself, but it was a quest to the upmost power, and who had the most power in the wizarding world? The rich purebloods that wanted nothing more than kill all the mudbloods.

Fortunately Snape’s influence regarding blood purity in the house had stared to wane and little by little, the kids that were no purebloods, which amazingly enough were more than half the house, had started to see things differently. There were still pillars of the ‘cause’ around, Parkinson, Bulstrode and Nott being the most outspoken and crueler, always attacking everyone who talked against Voldy-boy. The stupid school rules, the same ones that had prevent Minerva from helping Luna, made it impossible for the Headmistress to do something within the House… one of the many reasons the old witch was looking for a Potion teacher replacement with such vigor.

After that meeting Harry and Draco had become somewhat friends and met every other day in Hermione and Luna’s rooms to play chess and talk Quidditch, making the brunette Gryffindor the happiest witch alive as both the most important men in her life were actually having fun together. Draco still had to more or less hide his relationship with Hermione, but at least now they could see each other more freely than when the Dark Lord was still around

So there was no doubt when Hermione asked ‘ours’ that she was referring to her boys and herself.

“You got none.” Luna chirped happily.

“Uh?” She was not sure if she was offended or amused at the little blonde. They were not having eggs, but the gang that had bullied her did? It did not help matters that she was ready to kill those four at any moment and that her hate towards Chang had reached gigantic proportions.

The younger witch turned and looked at her over her shoulder, a sly smirk plying in her lips. “They are a thank-you-but-I-hate-you gift. They are timed to explode every time they curse or swear… they are filled with rotten real eggs.” Her smirk grew tenfold. “And I know for sure Cho and Mandy are potty mouths. Also, they are charmed to follow them for a month.”

Hermione snorted. Her girl was something else and she was really glad she was not the one on her bad side. “You’re amazing, love.” She kissed the smirk softly. Letting go of the blonde she stood again and stretched. “Come, Little Moon, Harry and Draco await us.”

“Do we have to?” Luna whined, where a sly witch was just seconds before now sat a little girl ready to cry to have her way.

The brunette snickered at the pathetic excuse of a girl in front her. “I don’t like it either, but they won’t shut up until we say yes.”

“But we don’t like flying!”

Hermione shrugged. “Yes, we don’t, but they eat Quidditch and they promised going with us shopping if we go flying with them today.” The plan was simple, they were going to take Draco and Harry’s brooms and were going to Hogsmeade to fly around. They were taking a picnic basket Sniffles had made for them and the brunette was sure Luna and her would end up curling in the blanket reading and watching their friends chase each other.

Luna groaned but she knew she had promised going flying with the boys. Getting up she marched towards their bedroom to change out her pajamas and into something comfortable, never noticing the hungry looking older girl who followed her if only to glimpse a bit of naked flesh.

XxXxX

“Ha! Admit it, Drake, I’m better than you!”

Draco grumbled in fake annoyance, a bright smile peeking through his grumpy demur. “Can’t it, Harry, I let you win!”

Hermione and Luna rolled their eyes at the same time at the stupidity of their male friends. They were currently all gathered together in the witches’ sitting room, the boys were playing chess and the girls were simply cuddled together on the armchair reading the same book.

“Boys…” Hermione muttered with a frown on her face as she resumed reading quietly.

“Oh, you love them.” Luna teased quietly so only her girlfriend heard her, her small smile lighting the whole room.

The brunette took her time to look around her. The sitting room was a mess and nothing like it had been when she had lived alone at the start of the year. The walls were still covered completely, with the exception of the fireplace and doors, with bookcases, but this time the books were not only hers, no. Every end of term Hermione emptied her bookcases to take home and leave behind the books she would not need and to take back to school those in the Manor she wanted to read. This January, whoever, Luna had also turned up with her own collection of books and it was decided that half the room would be Hermione’s and half Luna’s, the books that had not fit had been sent back to the Manor via Sniffles.

But not only half the bookcases were covered in different noise making, strange colored and odors emitting books than before, but the area around the fireplace had changed too. The armchair her Mama so loved had been sent to the Headmistress’ rooms and in its place two bigger, yet equally comfortable, soft lilac ones had appeared. It made the place a little bit crowded, but when Harry started visiting them it had been a necessary change made as Luna had the bad habit of falling asleep in their loveseat, leaving always someone without a place to sit for the late night chats. Although not a problem when it was only the two witches, Hermione avoided sitting near a sleeping Luna with Harry in the room because another of Luna’s bad zombie-like habits was to lift the brunette’s shirt and seek her breasts as soon as she was within reach. It had almost happened once with the raven haired boy in the room and it was definitely one time too many.

Other thing that had to change as soon as Draco joined them was their dinning/study area. The little table was long gone and was replaced with a squared one that now permitted four chairs around it. The cherry table was wide enough to allow the four of them to sprawl in their respective sides with all the parchment and books required for their respective homework. Harry had jumped at the chance to do homework with Hermione again as soon as he was invited, and Draco was wise enough to show up uninvited the day after Luna was cleared of the curse and was a recurrent visitor in their little gets together.

Those were the most obvious changes made in their rooms. The other ones were a little more subtle, just like the two added towels in the bathroom, one deep green and the other light red, opposed to the usual purple and blue ones that were there already. Or the discarded robes and ties that ranged from black to red to green all around the place more often than not. Or the proclaimed guest room that now had two beds, one in gold and the other in silver, each used at least two times a week. Or the constant warmth that now lingered in the main room. Or the sudden drop on their chocolate’s stock.

She loved them, yes, but they were too much trouble to keep happy.

“Hey, Mia,” Harry called to her excited.

Hermione smiled. She loved the nickname Draco had adopted for her and the way Harry had started to use it. ‘Mione was how Ron and Ginny, and mostly everyone she was angry with, called her. Mia just made her feel loved. It was different from the Neenie that was used by her Mama and Luna, as that nickname was childish and too familiar, but Mia worked wonders for her. “Yeah, Hare?”

“Come here and play me, Drake’s lost every game now.”

“So not!” The blond boy protested.

“So true!”

“So not!”

“So true!”

“So not!”

“So tru-”

“Am I interrupting something?” The clear, stern, voice ran through the room and shut up the boys immediately. Four set of eyes, each of different color, turned to the entrance of the sitting room where the old witch was looking around in annoyance. Her hard glare followed all the room, only pausing in each one of them for a couple of seconds before finally rest on Hermione’s warm chocolate eyes. 

The brunette gulped. “Hi, Mama.” After a second three voices greeted the new addition of the room in a chorus. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I see you four have been busy.” Minerva said with her eyebrow raised, her eyes again looking around the room.

Hermione winced; she guessed why her mother was so upset with her. “We’ll clean before school starts, I swear.” She said instantly, her Mama hated chaos and the sitting room was as far as tidy as they come.

The stern mask on the older witch fell at the panic in her daughter voice. “I know, Neenie, but I was actually looking that you are a little crowded in here.”

“A little, yes.” The female Gryffindor conceded warily, still waiting to being scolded for the mess the room was in. The two boys were as messy as any health boy was, and Luna had a hard time picking up after herself, so it left only Hermione to do the cleaning around the place, cleaning she really did not want to do in her holidays.

“Then you four pack your things,” The Headmistress said smartly while putting off the fire in their chimney. “We are going room hunting.”

Luna and Hermione shared a look. Had Minerva visited Xeno and stole some of his eleven leaves?

XxXxX

“Well, this certainly is better than the last one.” Draco smiled in triumph.

It had taken them the last two days of Easter Break to find what would be their new quarters and move in. The Headmistress had not been high on elven leaves but Hermione highly suspected she had been on catnip, making the ‘room hunting’ an excitable and simply strange affair.

The four students had been very surprised to find out that the castle had many more rooms than the Marauder’s Map claimed, all of them locked with magic and bound to the Headmistress’ wishes. They had spent half the first day looking around the rooms Minerva thought they would like until finally arriving to the third floor, really near to were once Fluffy lived, and showed them what got the four of them hyper excited.

The new sitting room had enough space to fit eight people, with two grandiose love seats and a couple of arm chairs. The fireplace was big enough to fit two of them at a time and was connected to the Floo red, although it was ringed to alert Minerva of it uses. There were no bookcases; a big, wide, window occupied one of the walls as the other three held six doors, three on two of them, and the fire place and the entrance in the last. The colors were no purple and cherry, as opposed at the ones in their last quarters, but were a light cream with hints of dark brown. It made it for a lit yet cozy room.

There were four bedrooms, each with their own attached bathroom. Two were claimed by the boys and the bigger one by the girls, no one even bothering to ask why they would keep sleeping together when there was another room nearby. None had addressed the fact that Hermione and Luna were dating, but it was common knowledge that they were joined at the hip and would never be separated. The dating was simply overlooked at it was just the way they always acted, the kisses they always shared were just now deeper and more frequent.

A real kitchen had been a bonus, just like the big table that now allowed six people to sprawl comfortably around it. Both Luna and Harry had been excited to see that this kitchen had an oven and a really big pantry. Hermione now had no excuse to avoid making them cookies and sweets. The pantry was already filled with all kind of foods, and the cold drawer in it was full to the brim with different cool delicateness.

It had been a mystery why the Headmistress had allowed them to have such marvelous rooms because they really would not need to leave them to live comfortably for the rest of their school careers. Especially considering the last room in the quarters. Hermione, because none of the other three doubted it was for Hermione, had been gifted with her own small library were all their books, yes all four of them had put books in there, were held. It was a room spacious enough, but with no real reading area, as the main sitting area was close enough to it. The room was filled to the brim with bookcases and little nooks were all kind of Muggle and wizard books were waiting for the brunette’s hands to choose them. A plus to the room was the narrow door that magically connected it with the school’s library and that could only be used with the pertinent password so no other could accidentally stumble into their rooms.

“It is definitely amazing.” Hermione’s smile was so wide it was amazing she had not split her face in two.

“Your mother really loves you.” Harry commented as she threw himself across one of the loveseats. “This is incredible!”

“Perks of having the Headmistress as mother-in-law.” Luna responded while mimicking the raven haired boy’s actions.

Draco and Hermione raised an amused eyebrow at that. “Mother-in law?” The blond wizard asked, mirth in his voice.

“Yup!” Luna chirped. “She’s my Neenie’s mom, so she’s my mother-in-law!” 

Hermione simply shook her head, knowing Luna was the happiest after they had become girlfriends and that she never missed a chance to remind them of it, even if the world ‘girlfriend’ never crossed her lips. Shaking her head she headed to the library, letting the other three to play the deck of Snapping Cards Draco conjured. There were many books she had not read yet and that were waiting for her.

# Chapter Thirty-Five – Of Hickeys and Benches

“Luuuuna!”

The blonde giggled at the long suffering wail that followed her into the bathroom. She was not surprised when a half dressed Hermione burst into the steam filling room. “Dear, I thought we agreed we won’t be bathing together again until I turn fourteen.” She teased.

“The fuck, Luna!” Hermione roared. “What did you do?”

The younger girl smiled pleasantly. “Why, my love, I haven’t done anything.”

“Luna Sophia Lovegood, what the hell did you do to my neck?!”

Luna winced. The usage of her complete name was never a good sign. Hermione was furious and in that moment she wondered if she had not overstepped a line she was not ready to cross. “Sorry?” She smiled sheepishly as she finally entered the shower stall, knowing the older witch would never followed her in fear of doing something she could later regret.

“Little Moon,” The brunette sighed. “A hickey? Really?” She had gotten used to sport several bites and bruises over her chest, heck, even she had for a while a bruise on her lower back once due a swift punch the girl had given her in a nightmare-produced panic. She was fine with all the marks on her body, really, they were her constant reminders that Luna was in her life, but she was used to be able to cover them with her clothes. Yet this hickey, this red monstrosity on her neck, would either require her to use her scarf or to use a concealment charm. The former was impossible as it was now warm enough that the use of it would raise more questions than help and the latter was a pain in her ass as the charm needed to be constantly kept; it was no harmful or anything, but she knew herself enough to know she was more than able to lose her concentration while in class.

“I couldn’t help it.” Luna mumbled, her voice barely heard over the constant fall of water. “You taste delicious.”

Hermione sighed again. It was the first day of school and they had decided to use the lunch time to eat in their rooms and to take a cold shower. April had surprised them with a hot wave and the castle was a little too hot for Hermione’s comfort. Luna had decided to have her own just for the sake of it. “Next time keep to the places I can cover, please.”

The blonde peek her head from around the sower’s curtain, her long darker-than-normal blonde hair clinging to her body covering her chest perfectly. She smiled lovingly to her girlfriend eyeing the red mark an inch above the silver chain from where her silver pendant hung. “I’ll try.”

The brunette shook her head before lightly kissing the wet lips in front of her. “That’s all I can ask, can’t I?” 

“Maybe…” With that last comment Hermione simply left to finish get dressed.

The Gryffindor exited their bathroom and sat again at her dressing table. She looked again at the red mark on the left side of her neck and sighed for the tenth time. She would leave it be for now and only cover it if she crossed paths with her Mama. The whole school had heard rumors that Luna and Hermione were together, one way or another; let them have this as proof that they were indeed close behind closed doors. 

The brunette continued dressing absentminded, her mind going all over the place, thinking on the announcement her Mama had done at breakfast. While Easter Break was a week spent in the castle, all school related things were forgotten during meals and classes were cancelled. Sure they had enough homework to keep occupied, but the lack of classes made it for relaxed week and the perfect opportunity to hang out with friends. So it had not been a shock that the Headmistress had announced the little seminar they were going to be given at the first meal of the day, instead of the last as it was usually done.

Her afternoon classes were cancelled for such a reason. She was going to be, along with all the fifth years, sixth years and seventh years, off in one of the rarely used classroom the castle had being taught by none other than Sirius and Tonks. She could not understand why her Mama wanted them to know different ways to realize that a witch or wizard was using a concealing charm, was polijuiced or had altered their magical signature.

Not that it was not useful information, no, or that it was not intriguing enough for her to be tempted with the new knowledge, no, it was mostly the reason _why_ her Mama was so nervous with the seminar and why she was so adamant that they learnt _that._

Yes, she had noticed the way her Mama had wriggled her hand while speaking, just like she noticed how Snape was giving her the evil eye. Harry nor Draco had known of this seminar and that just made it all the more suspicious. What was her Mama playing at?

Her musings were stopped, however by a melodic voice that penetrated the fog in her mind. “Your tie is black now.”

“Huh?”

Luna smiled sadly as she embraced the brunette form behind, resting her chin on the other girl’s shoulder. “Your tie and robes are black…”

Hermione looked at her recently knotted tie and was not surprised to see that the colors were gone from it. It had started way back, before even the time Harry started hanging out with them. Her robes and tie had started losing their brightness and for a long time she had worn them with grey edges, the grey darkening each passing day and the colors draining little by little. She was now dressed very much like Luna, who’s uniform never colored with the Ravenclaw’s colors. “I see.” She mused. “Guess I’m not longer a true Gryffindor, no?”

The blonde let a tear leek from her eye. “I’m sorry, Neenie.”

The older girl blinked confused at that. Not really getting up, she turned in the low stool and faced the now silently crying lithe girl. Without a second thought she pulled her down her lap and held her tenderly. “Why are you sorry for, love?” 

“’Cause if it ‘eren’t for me ‘ou woul’ be still ‘earing ‘our colo’s.” Luna mumbled around the thumb that had found its way to her mouth. “You’re upse’.”

“No, my love.” Hermione kissed the top of flaxen hair. A knife stab at her heart, it had been weeks since Luna had sucked her thumb when distressed, opting to simply cuddle with her or one of the boys if she was not around, seeing her regressing showed how much she was hurting.  “I didn’t lose my colors because of you. And even if I did I would be grateful, not upset. In fact, I _am_ grateful.”

“Huh?”

“My love, I don’t belong to Gryffindor just as you don’t belong to Ravenclaw. I told you before, the Sorting Hat wanted me in Slytherin but was afraid. Even when I don’t think I could fit in there either, I was never a true Gryffindor.”

“But,” The blonde took her thumb away to clutch the older girl’s robes with both hands. “Your tie was colored as soon as you were sorted, mine never was.”

“I believe I had many things in common with the Gryffindors, but I also believe that meeting you had given me the chance to finally be who I am.” Hermione smiled softly. “Thanks to you I’m able to really be myself. You’ve finally given me the chance to listen to my heart because finally it will be worthy. What’s better, I stopped caring what people thought of me once the Tournament began, I didn’t care if I was seen as a know-it-all or a bad-tempered witch, who I am, but with you by my side I want to try and be a better person, I want to try and do more. I want to be seen as one great witch that spends her life helping others, making a better world.”

Luna tilted her head to the side, silently questioning what her girlfriend was saying.

“What I mean is that before you I had no one. Sure Mama was around, but she was my Headmistress, she was a friend but one whom I could not really connect because no matter what once I was out school she was not there for me. I had Harry, but the stupid boy is angry with me more often than not, and even though I know I’ll be there for him always, I knew we could eventually stop talking for years and not hear of each other. Draco was there at the beginning of fourth year, but he is Malfoy, you know? I could never dream to see him outside our secret meetings or talk to him outside our weekly letter. But thanks to you I have all of them now.

“Mama is always going to be there for me, because thanks to you I was able to confess that I saw her more like a mother than a friend. Harry, thanks to you, finally understood what real friendship is, even when our relationship with him is more brother-like, you, Little Moon was the one that allowed us to become family.” She smiled sadly. “Draco showed his true colors because of you, Luna. I’m not saying I’m glad that he is around because of what happened to you, no, I’ll happily trade your pain for my relationships with all of them, but the silver lining of your attack was that Drake is now part of our family.

“I believe, my love, that you were the one that allowed us to finally connect with each other. Thanks to you I was able to finally open up, Harry was able to realize that there a people who like him beyond his fame and Draco was finally able to be himself without a care of what his House says. Mama also gathered her courage and try to adopt me because of you, you know?”

Luna frowned. “What?”

“She confessed to me that it was my desire to protect you that made her realize that no matter what happens one need to always stick to the person one loves. Don’t give me that look, as cliché as it sounds, I loved you since I saw you. There was this pull in my heart that told me to never let go, to be true to myself and finally do something beyond sulking around school.”

“Per Sempre Vero.” The blonde finally grinned.

“What?” It was Hermione’s turn to be confused beyond reason.

“Stay Forever True. It was the motto of the Capulet family adopted after Romeo and Juliette killed themselves.” The younger witch explained, her tears long forgotten. “My Momma loved to tell me that story and she always ended it with that phrase: ‘Per Sempre Vero’, it was a promise to always be true to oneself and to love whomever the heart choses, no matter the blood or status.”

The brunette smiled before gently kissing the girl in her lap, prompting a soft moan out of her. “I like it. Once we marry we’ll adopt it as our own.”

That made the Luna blink totally stunned. “Marry?” She asked in a soft voice too tiny to be really heard, but Hermione was able to, beaming at the amazed, yet happy, tone her girlfriend has used.

“Yes, love.” She kissed her again, using just a tad more tongue. “I’m finally ready to admit that I want you by my side forever, I want to marry you someday.”

“Really?” New tears poured from her eyes, this time they were of pure blissfulness. “We’ve only been together for little more than a month.”

“Does it matter?” Hermione rested her forehead against the blonde’s. All the fear she had felt over changing her status with Luna now forgotten as she really knew she was destined to be with the little blonde, even if they still had a long way to go before marriage. “I love you with all my heart and I cannot imagine my life without you. One day you’ll be my wife, Luna. I swear.”

XxXxX

“No! I’m not ready!”

“Oh, come on! You’ll like it after a while!”

“But it’s too big!”

“Stop being such a crybaby. No pain no gain.”

“Argh! Drake!”

“Deep breaths, Harry, take deep breaths. Push slightly.”

“Push? Is too dam-”

“Drake? Hare?” Luna’s timid voice called to them from the other side of the locked door.

Draco immediately adjusted Harry’s position and opened the door to find a perplexed little blonde and a slightly blushing brunette. He raised an eyebrow at the black tie in Hermione’s uniform, a strange sight that was shadowed by the love bite she was sporting. “Yes?”

The two witches looked at the chest bared lean wizard and were sure that if they were not girlfriends they would be trying to shag him. His six-pack was a sight to idolize, especially with the little layer of sweet that made them glister, but they chose to ignore them in order to peek beyond into the room they knew was Draco’s. The, surprisingly, navy blue and dark grey comforter on the bed was tussled, but there was no Boy-Who-Lived-Twice in it. Instead Harry was lying in only a pair of short pants on his back on a leather bench; a thin metal pole was hanging just a foot over his head with two disks attached to either end of it.

“What are you two doing?” Hermione asked with a laugh, already knowing they had come to the wrong conclusion when they first heard them talking. 

“Weight lifting.” Draco said tranquilly, not understanding the giggling that came from them and a little amused at the hickey on the brunette neck and the slightly red lips of Luna. “Harry is too weak to be a true seeker.”

“I’m not weak!” Said boy protested. “I’m just not as buff as many.”

This time the three other laughed merrily, it was hard not to hear the pout in the youngest boy’s voice. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll get you ready for next year’s Quidditch Tournament. You’ll truly be the best seeker the school had ever seen.”

“What about you? You are pretty good.” Harry asked curiously.

Draco smiled. “Yes, well, I don’t plan on trying out next year. I really want to focus on my studying right now.” The Ministry had finally decided in the fine Malfoy House would need to pay for his father’s crimes, added to his lifelong sentence in Azkaban. While the gold was met without hitch, it had depleted the Malfoy vault considerably. He and his mother had enough money to live more or less comfortably for the rest of their lives, but he wanted to have a respectable career and make his own wealth to pass to his offspring and he needed to focus on school for that. 

The raven haired boy frowned. What was the point of playing if he could not compete against Draco? Maybe he will not be part of the team either. He was going to say something about it when Hermione interrupted him his thoughts.

“Hey you two, as much as I like to see you topless, you need to get dressed. Sirius is waiting for us in the Sonorus Room.”

Both boys blinked at that. They had forgotten that they only had a couple of lunch hours and they had decided to follow the girls so they could have a little bonding time while working on their bodies while the two lovebirds were off snogging senseless. Judging by the huge mark on Hermione’s neck their session had been a success, but if what the older girl was saying was true they really needed to cool down now so they would not pull something. “Give us a couple of minutes.” Draco requested.

“You have twenty.” She answered them before scrunching her nose. “Please shower while I take Luna to class.”

“Yes, yes,” Harry dismissed her while Draco helped him get the weighs off. “Take your time, we’ll see you in the seminar.”

The brunette shook her head. “Boys.” She commented as if that simple word explained all the mysteries in the universe. “Come on, Little Moon, you have Charms in five minutes.”

“Bye, you two. Please scrub really hard your underarms, you stink!” Luna chirped as she dragged her girlfriend to their small library. The Charms classroom was closer to the school library than their own rooms, so they would be using their secret passage to arrive on time.

Harry quirked an eyebrow as Draco did the same besides him. As one, both slightly raised an arm and sniffed hesitantly. Both gagged after a second and headed to their respective bathrooms in a rush. Luna was right, they stunk.


	10. Chapter 10

# -Chapter Thirty-Six – Namae Suiyaku

“So, kiddos, this is it. You are in the presence of one of the most talented Aurors in our time, so as such you should really be marveled at my sight. I, Sirius Black, are-”

“An ass.”

The whole chamber laughed mutely at that.

“As I was saying before junior Auror _Nymphadora_ rudely interrupted me,” Sirius glared at the green haired woman besides him. “This class is going to be a relaxed one. There would be no titles such as Sir or Professor,” at this he gagged. “But I really need you to listen to me. We can joke all what you want, and most of the stuff we’ll be learning is not dangerous, but I better have you all intact at the end of the week so the Headmistress don’t send my sexy ass back to Azkaban.”

This time the joke did not received as many laughs as it was a remainder of the dark ages they had just left behind.

Tonks step up, just a pace in front the male Auror, and started for real the lecture. “As we all know, there are several ways to deceive people and to post as another person at any time and any place. Almost. We are wizards and witches and it is possible for is to do many things to conceal ourselves, but we are also able to do many more to reveal us. In this week long seminar we are going to learn five defend ways in which we can unmask the most proficient concealing and image altering charms.”

Siruis took the little speech from where his co-teacher had left it, letting his eyes roam around the packed room. All the students from fifth year upwards were sitting in the big circular room, all of the, strangely quiet and with his eyes fixed in the two Aurors on the front. He lingered just a second too long on Harry and then Hermione, who was sitting in between his godson and nephew. He still could not understand how Draco was friend with a witch considered mudblood. “Each day we’ll learn a new spell to help us with that. We currently have twenty-seven fifth years, thirty six years and twenty-four seven years, so in order to work with each of you we’ll be stealing away some of your Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.” He smirked. “We would have stolen your potion classes, but many of you don’t have any as you didn’t get your ‘necessary’ O’s in your OWL’s, you lot of dunderheads!” The last part he said it with his best Snape’s imitation, prompting another loud roar from most the students.

“Okay, kids,” Tonks said gleefully. “Today is an especial occasion, seeing as it’s the first day we see each other. We’ll learn to do the Namae Suiyaku, the Name Potion. It is easy to do and as you are all gathered here it’s easier to teach it now rather than later.” She waved her wand and chanted a little under her breath. “You now have before each of you a cauldron, a pack of ingredients and a parchment with the instructions to make the potion. Please take a couple of minutes to read through it and then we’ll start, step by step, all of us, doing the potion at the same time. Don’t open your pack of ingredients yet, please.”

That last sentence made all of them look up from their parchments in surprise and amazement. They had never done a potion guide, step by step. It made them uneasy as they were all used to do the potions in their own time and a little happy that they would certainly have no chance to screw up the potion.

Sirius, with Tonks’ help, had managed to put a wide desk in front of them with a charm that would allow all the seated students see what was happening with the potion the Aurors would be doing with them. “Are there any questions with how the potion is made?” He asked the room.

Herrmion looked at the small parchment, wondering again why her Mama wanted them to know this kind of material. It was not even important enough to be learnt unless one wanted to be an Auror and even then, the spells and the potion were taught in the earlier steps of the training program. She scoffed, the potion was easy enough to make and she was sure even a first year, or Neville, could do it without a hitch. Most of the ingredients she had never used, but were not really foreign to her, only exotic. She knew her Mama, or whoever wanted them to learn this, had gone through a lot of trouble for acquiring them. Not only most of them were from the other end of the planet, but certain things, like the silver cauldron, were simply expensive.

“Yes, Mister Longbottom?” Tonks asked to Neville’s raised hand. The only hand that had risen so far.

“Y-Yes,” He stuttered shyly. “It is t-truly necessary for u-us to do it?”

Tonks and Siruis exchanged a look, Minerva had already told them that Frank and Alice’s son was helpless in potion and almost always managed to light his cauldron, and sometimes his robes, on fire. “Come here, Mister Longbottom, you’ll be helping Tonks and I explain how to do the potion.”

Nevile rose shakily, gathering his school bag, and went to stand next their two professors for the next couple of hours.

“Okay, everybody, please take out the ingredients as I list them and do as I say with each one of them.” Tonks said once Neville was next to Sirius, opening the package that was waiting there for them. “First, take out the Tengu feather. It’s the long, brownish one with little freckles of black and white. You should notice that the feather has already been sharpened as any of our eagle and swan ones are. Take this one and put it apart for the moment, do not lose them, do not use it and do not let the point bent, it is really expensive and would only work once for the spell, after that you are allowed to use it as any other writing feather.”

Draco and Hermione exchanged their own amazed look. The feathers they had taken out the package were beautiful and looked highly fragile. The shaft was longer and thicker than any feather they had ever seen. The barbs, however, were really thin and almost see-through, of a light brown with just the smallest spots of bright with and almost endless black… and they also smelled of apples and grass. Putting them apart, they decided to keep them together, along with Harry’s, so they would not be damaged.

“Second,” Siruis continued when he managed to avoid Neville’s clumsy fingers from crushing the Tengu feather. “Take out the large vial of Kappa Mizu. This is water from a spring were a Kappa lives, purified by the chants of the Tibetian monks. It’s holy water, capable of curing many diseases, but it is also really toxic- Fred! George! Do **not** drink it!” Everybody turned to look at the seventh year twins, who looked pale at being caught with the vial halfway through their mouths. With a sigh, he continued. “As I was saying, it’s highly toxic and should never be drunk unsupervised by a Healer or a capable Kappa handler. Now, let’s start the potion. Do not turn on the cauldron in front of you yet and pour the whole vial of water in it. Notice how the murkiness is gone and is replaced with almost crystalline water. This is due the silver it had just come in contact with. Many of you know that silver is one of the purest metals in the world and so have the properties to magically purify almost all liquids, just like the-”

Hermione tuned out the rather profound explanation of silver in magic, knowing it by heart, and wondered why Snape did not teach the way Sirius and Tonks were doing. They were not only going to do the potion with them step by step, but they were also teaching what each of the ingredients were and how they interacted with the materials they were using. Sure Hermione knew that, as many of the NEWT potion students did, but she was certain the whole lot of fifth years and those who no longer took potions were amazed by the revelations they were having.

Looking back it made sense that every student learnt that kind of information since first year. Using the wrong cauldron, rod, or even spell to light the flame under the cauldron could possibly change the outcome of the final product. Sometimes the changes were minor and only lowered the potion’s potency and other times it made for the potion to be completely dangerous. _‘Bloody Snape and his need to see us work harder than necessary…’_ She mussed angrily.

“Third, take out the sheets of Kombu.” Sirius finally continued after his short explanation. “There should be three of them, they are the dark green ones, really fragile, so take them out really carefully. As you can see in the instructions the sheets are to be added in the cold water, and they had to be hydrated with it _whole._ Now, one by one pick your Kombu and submerge them with the tongs provided until they are all sluggish and completely wet, take upmost care and do not break them. Once they are done, put them apart in the small dish that should be found in your packages.”

They started doing as they were told. The sheets were really thin and it make for a challenge to put them in the water without cracking them, however, all of them had done similar things with Snape and were able to do it, slowly, but with success. Hermione wrinkled her nose. The Kombu smelled of seaweed and rotten fish once it was completely wet. This step was pretty much like preparing the lasagna for cooking and so she was the very first one to finish, so she restored to watch amused how Harry was taking his time with his Konbu and how Draco was having real trouble with his.

“Spoiled pureblood.” She teased him gently, knowing Harry’s and her aptitude with the tongs was directly related to their cooking experience.

Draco sniffled annoyed, stupid fragile sheets! “Shut up, Hermy.” He growled as he managed to prepare the last of his Kombu.

Hermione simply snickered behind her hand and stopped just in time to hear what Tonks was saying, who was now somewhere in the rows behind her.

“Next, boys and girls… and in between,” This had half the students giggling. “Take out the Gembu shell. This one is just a black powder that should be lying somewhere around your packages. This is black turtle powdered shell. On its own it has no magical properties, but when mixed with the Kombu it creates a grey liquid that is acid to the human skin. Carefully, sprinkle the powder all over your wet Kombu in the plate and do not touch it until we say so.” She waited a moment so all were doing as they were told. “Notice that the Kombu is now burning slightly, but with no real flame. Also notice how at the bottom of the plate the grey liquid I mentioned is appearing. It will take between fifteen to twenty minutes to the process to end, so with the most care, put the dish apart and turn back to your cauldron.”

Harry almost knocked over Hermione with his dish, but he was able to put it away far from his glaring _big sister_.

“And here is where you need to pay the most attention.” Sirius said as he watched how Neville almost bath himself with the black acid. “From here on those who had been helping each other should stop. From this point onwards each of you would handle your own potion as it would be keyed with your own magical signature. While it can be used by any witch or wizard after its done, the process needs to maintain the same level of magic and the same source of power for the potion to work perfectly. We will guide you, but we will be unable to touch anything you’ll be using as to not hurt the final product.”

It was then when Hermione noticed that Sirius was helping both Neville and the kids in the front rows and that Tonks was in the back of the room doing pretty much the same. This was so totally different to what they were used with Snape.

“Light the flame of your cauldron with the candle that’s provided in your package. It does not matter how you lit the candle, but you need to use it to light the flamer you’ll be using. This candle is made from the wax cultivated by the bees the Yōsei take care of. In this case it ensures the continued purity of the silver, but in other potions and rituals they could be used to bind souls and to create dangerous poisons. This candle would be returned at the end of the class. To leave the classroom you’ll be asked to hand it in, so please, do not try to steal it.  Take out the Shisa’s hairs, there should be five of them in the package and add them to the cauldron now, before it starts boiling.”

The students did as they were told; still amazed at the way they were making their potions, all together. Most of them lightened their candles with a quick Incendio. Draco gained perplexed looks when he reached inside his robes to take out a rather common looking Muggle firelighter. He, Hermione and Harry used it to light their candles, the two Gryffindors knowing by now that Draco liked to smoke sometimes when he was stressed. The lighter had been Hermione’s Christmas gift and it had gained her a pair of oven mittens. 

“Good, now the water should be starting to boil. The Kappa mizu boils quicker than normal water, so that why we didn’t light the flame until now. Reach in your packages, there should be a piece of Oni horn. You need to mince it in little squares, yes, mince it. Oni horns are really soft once they are thorn from the death Oni as it instantly loses the strengthening charm they are casted with since the Oni was born- yes Miss Brown?”

Lavender gulped. “Sorry, Proffes-”

“Sirius.” The male Auror corrected her mid word. 

The Gryffindor blushed slightly. “Sorry, Sirius,” She coughed slightly. “I was just wondering what an Oni is…”

Nobody laughed, not even the Slytherins as it was their habit when someone did not know something. Hermione was sure it was not because nobody knew what an Oni was, mainly because seventh years should know, but they kept silent to see how the Aurors were going to handle the situation. Snape would take points because somebody had dared to ask a question and he surely would hand out detentions because Lavender did not know something.

Sirius smiled as Tonks quickly started talking about Onis, Tengus, Kappas, Yōsei and Shisas, telling all of them the main legends behind the creatures’ discoveries and where to find them in the Rising Sun Country. She was gently interrupted every so often by Sirius who continued telling the instructions to finish the potion. All of the students were stunned for a second before taking in the information they were been given while at the same time they kept tending to their potions. The aura around the room was placid and a little cheerful; you would think potions were so fun?

Just as Tonks was finishing her last tale it was time to add the last ingredient to the cauldron. 

“Ok, kiddos, congratulations, there’s only two things left to do before you all are free to go and cause chaos. Remember the Kombu and Gembu we prepared at the beginning of the class? Yes? Great. Now, carefully as to no touch it with your bare hands, pour the grey liquid in the potion. Do it slowly and carefully before stirring the liquid three times counterclockwise and two clockwise. Once you are done you’ll notice that the potion turns from light blue to dark brown, its consistency should be liquid and not all that different from any ink you’ve used. Yes? Anybody with a different color or consistency?” Nobody raised their hands or made any comment. “Great! Now the last thing in your package is a trapezoidal vial where you should pour your potion. For it to work it needs to rest for at least three days, so we’ll know if it works on Friday when we use the Tengu feather to write down you name and see if you know your real names.” He smirked. “So if you guys have an embarrassing name none of your friends know about, we’ll find soon enough.”

Tonks shook her head at the silliness of her Uncle. “Please label your vials and put them inside your empty packages, along with your Tengu feathers, clean cauldrons and candles. Label the outside of the packages, too, please. Once you are done come here to the front of the class so we can make sure everything is packaged away and then you are free to go make any mayhem you’d like.”

Hermione and her friends were one of the first to be ready. They approached Siruis and showed him that the materials were indeed were they were supposed to be. The male Auror ruffled both the boys’ hairs getting indignant growls from the now bed haired boys as Tonks took the vials of potion and put them apart in a small shelf that would be untouched until Friday evening. “Get loose, you three, and try not to kill anybody.” He said softly just before the three kids left. He could not help but stare at Hermione’s back, wondering if Minerva’s fears were true.

 

# Chapter Thirty-Seven – Define Fun

“So? Are you having fun?”

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. She was currently in the library, waiting for Luna to finish Charms in one of her not so rare free periods. Ever since she dropped out from Divination she had followed with Muggle Studies and History of Magic. The first was just a pain in the ass with all the wrong information they were fed and the second was just a waste of time. Her Mama had explained at the beginning of her fourth year that she could take both OWL’s and NEWT’s without having to pass the customary classes, so she was aiming to take those two OWL’s, but without the constant nuisance of seeing Burbage and Binns. Also being the teacher’s pet was certainly handy while one was also top of the class, the rest of the staff was happy to give her free days so that the rest of the class could catch up with her. “Define fun, please.” She asked with a smile.

The older man sat heavily in the armchair next to hers, prompting Madam Pince to scold them harshly. With a guilty smile, Sirius simply nodded his understanding to the old librarian. Turning back to the brunette he whispered. “Fun as in, am I a good teacher?”

Hermione closed her book and scooted closer to the Auror so they would not need to raise their voices. “I really like the way you teach, it reminds me of Remus and Professor Greenwood. It is different, but you are actually teaching us. Thank you for it.”

Sirius beamed at who was considered the most intelligent witch of the century and what it was undeniable a praise, he felt that having one from the young girl was as difficult as having one from the Headmistress. “Really? How so?”

“You connect with us in a way only I’ve seen Remus do, but you are also full of facts that made the class interesting, just as Professor Greenwood. You manage to keep us focused without instilling fear, in fact, we listen to you because we want to, not because we need to.”

“Awesome.” He giggled like a school girl while looking over her shoulder to something behind her. “Remus and Tamsin are going to be so jealous!”

“Why would they?” The brunette asked just for the sake of knocking the man out his high horse. “They are amazing teachers on their own.”

“Why, thank you Hermione.” The sudden voice of Remus Lupin made her smirk. So that was what made Sirius all cocky so suddenly. “Tamsin and I are grateful of your approval.”

The young brunette looked to where her two Professors were standing. Remus let himself drop in the loveseat just in front Sirius and Professor Greenwood followed him a little more subtly. “Can we sit here, Miss McGonagall?” She was the only one polite enough to ask and it made the younger witch smile at the sudden blush that spread over the males’ cheeks.

“You are very welcome, Professors, but please call me Hermione. Miss McGonagall is my Mama.” And that was true as the Headmistress never married, not that she did not have her long-time boyfriend.

The Transfiguration teacher smiled. “Then please call me Tamsin, Hermione.”

“It’ll be my pleasure, Tamsin.” That was one of the reasons she loved her younger Professors, they were more approachable and did not look down at the students like they were small minded munchkins… well, Snape did look down at them with an air of superiority that only made her want to slap him.

“What are you doing insides on such a good day, Hermione? If you don’t mind me asking.” Tamsin asked, trying to get comfortable around her very first name-basis student.

The brunette’s mouth quirked slightly to the side. “I’m waiting for Luna to finish Charms.” She confessed lightly. She was sure both Tamsin and Remus knew of the rumors in the castle, just as she was sure both of them had seen the hickey that had adorned her neck three days ago. The red spot on her skin had made all the school missed her robes and tie’s color change as nobody had mention it, yet.

“So you two are really together, then?” This time the younger girl blushed at Remus question. It was not like she was ashamed or nervous about her dating Luna, no, her blush was wore due to the fact that she had not even talked to her Mama of her change of status, nor her now black robes. She should talk to her soon, though, because if the staff knew about then I would surely reach her Mama’s ears sooner rather than later.

“Yeah.” She replied smartly.

Tamsin then did something utterly uncharacteristically from the usual stern Transfiguration Mistress. She squealed. “I knew it!” She cringed at the hushing sound she gained for Madam Prince. “Ups.”

Hermione had to do everything in her power to not laugh at the silly sight that was Tamsins squirming like a school girl, though if she was fair, the Professor did look like a school girl, she was the youngest in staff and as magical people tended to age slower than Muggles, she looked only a couple of years older than Hermione. She had to make a bigger effort not to laugh when the two wizards promptly presented some coins to the older female, clearly paying up some kind of bet.

“Making money off my love life, Professors? That’s low.” She mused with a wide grin.

Tamsin had the decency to blush as she accepted her money. “Not really… I have to pay the Weasly twins their own pool… I’m sure I lost that one.”

The brunette tilted her head to the side. “What was that one about?”

“When you two first kissed.” It was Remus who answered that question.

“Oh.” Turning to the only other female, Hermione asked. “When did you bet on?”

 “I said that it would be in February, preferably on Valentine.” Remus chimed in.

“During Easter Break.” Sirius answered his bet.

“After Christmas but before the first week of January.” Tamsin growled, knowing none of them had won.

Hermione smiled. “And how would you know when we first kissed?”

The Auror shrugged. “Usually when a couple start kissing they don’t stop unless is truly necessary, and you two haven’t snogged in public yet. Although the hickey in your neck made us wonder.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Sirius, but Tamsin actually won the bet.”

“What?!” Remus whispered-yelled. “You two didn’t know each other that much around that time, how could you two kiss that soon?!”

Hermione did not know if it was okay to glare to a Professor, but she did so anyway. “Ever heard of true love?” She asked sarcastically. Her glare and dry voice made wonders to cause the DADA teacher to gulp and cower behind the tall, lean, Transfiguration teacher.

“I heard of it once,” Sirius piped. “But James and Lily’s love was not as cute as yours is. In fact, I remember she hated him until the last very moment.”

“Yes well, Luna is not an air-headed prankster.” Hermione replied dryly. “I applaud Lily her saint-like-patience.”

The Auror pouted as Tamsin giggled. “We were not that bad.” The young brunette simply shook her head amused.  

“My mom always said I was born with luck,” Tamsin commented a moment after all lapsed in a comfortable silence. “I guess winning both bets prove her right, no?”

Hermione snorted. She marveled at how easy it was to talk with her younger teachers. They were far more mature than her classmates, with Sirius exception, but they were more to her level than the older Professors, regretfully, even her Mama was sometimes a little too old fashioned for her taste. “I guess.” Tamsin was a stern teacher, she wanted to be like her Mama because Transfiguration was a dangerous class, however all the students knew her bark was worse than her bite. It was her habit to tell them stories and anecdotes that made her one of the favorite teachers around school, just beaten by Remus who now was having a run for his money with Sirius teaching.

Remus and Sirius were easy to understand why she was so comfortable with, the former became a real sweetheart after Voldemort’s defeat and, as her Head of House, he was one of the only Professors she talked to. He was in charge of her Prefect duties such as he was the one that always seek her to keep him informed of how the tutoring of the younger years was coming along. He was fun, gentle and he had always provided her with a good chat before she met Luna.

Sirius was Harry’s godfather and over the last months she had heard nothing but just the very best of the man from her _little brother’s_ lips. After hearing so much about the man she felt that she already knew him, even though she had only met him a handful of times. She was sure that with her mended relationship with Harry she would be seeing the man more and more.

Yet she was not so sure why Tamsin was so easy to speak to. She had had a couple of chat with her and those times she was as aloof as any other teacher, yet this woman, this really young woman who had not even reached her thirties was as fun to be around as Remus and Sirius. If there was something she always appreciated, and never got from Harry not Ron, was a good sense of humor and one or two jokes. Luna was funny just because she was Luna, and Draco’s dark dryness was hilarious, but she had the feeling this teacher would be as witty as her beloved snake.

“Neenie?” A soft voice asked her and threw her out her musings. Around her the three older people had continue chatting quietly and now had stopped to see the little blonde nearing them. “Is everything alright?”

Remus and Tamsin smiled at the girl. Long gone was the insecure Claw that, with her misty eyes, always offered a strange speech and who was lost in everything that had to do with school. Both of them knew the girl was highly intelligent, but they also knew she lacked confidence and grounding. They knew that this improved version, this young teen, was product of the relationship she had grown with Hermione’s help. They were glad that the girl was now more active in class, going so far as to raise her hand on occasion so she could answer one of their questions. It was marvelous sight to see that the girl talked normally in front of practical strangers.

“Come, Little Moon, let’s head to lunch.” Hermione got up from her comfy place and stood beside her girlfriend. Her Grandmama’s training helped her to talk with almost anybody without losing her cool, and as much as she was enjoying the company of her three teachers, she knew Luna had not that training and was still a little scared of people she did not know well. “Professors, it was a pleasure talking with you.” She nodded to the three adults seating.

Luna copied her action and let herself be guided by the hand out the library.

The three adults saw the scene with smiling eyes. They did make a cute couple.

XxXxX

Ron watched as they strolled through the hall hand in hand, the girl that was supposed to be his and not that stupid crazed blonde’s. He watched how their joined hands swung as they walked, how the littler of the two grinned like mad and how the brunette was sporting a small, yet loving smile. It made his blood boil.

His sister was working on a plan to get rid of Loony, just as she was planning on how to destroy Morgen so that Harry could return to Ginny’s arms and so that Hermione finally figure he, Ron Weasley, was the best man for her.

He would be the one to teach her how to be a proper witch, how to cook food the right way, no the stupid long, magicless, one she once showed him in the Borrow. He would teach her how to stay quiet and tend to their kids. Oh, yes, they were going to have at least five, all of them boys, because boys were funnier and more valuable, everybody knew that.

He would also teach her that there was no future for a witch in the world, unless she had a pureblood husband like him at her side. She was a mudblood, the less likely race to get a job in the Ministry, or any other respectable place, really, and she would need him and he would make sure she was grateful of that, yes, she would be very grateful.

 

# Chapter Thirty-Eight – We Are Not Monsters

“Harry?”

The boy sighed and shot a remorseful smile to his companion before turning to face the witch that came running to her. “Hello, Chang.” He said, trying to contain the sudden spark of anger that shot through him.

The Asian witch hesitated a moment once she stopped before the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice. Maybe this was a bad idea. On one hand his companion was shooting daggers at her and Mandy and was holding his wand with a death grip. On the other hand, the snarl with which they were greeted let her know that they were still far from being forgiven. But then again, they had acted like real hags, so maybe what she was about to do could help them reform themselves. “We were wondering if you’d could give this to Miss Lovegood?”

Mandy held an envelope to the two boys that were eying them with the upmost suspicious. It was a plain one, made of light parchment and with clear navy ink was written the name of the recipient of the letter.

“Are you stupid?” It was Draco who finally broke the silence. “There’s no way we’re giving Luna something of yours.”

The younger Claw gulped. “We want to apologize and say thanks… it’s just a card signed by the entire House.”

Both boys stare at them, a blank look on their faces. Did they really think that a simple card would make everything better? Not only had they attacked Luna for year and a half, but the little blonde had been gracious enough not to press charges against the four that actually were stupid enough to assault her, instead of being expulsed they had been suspended from school for the three weeks that remained until the new term started. It had been humiliating, yes, but the knowledge that the Queen Claw had been that close at having her wand snapped had shocked some common sense in the stupid Ravenclaw House.

Not that it would do them anything good in the eyes of both Princes of Gryffindor and Slytherin.

“Sorry, but no.” Harry was the one to speak this time. “I don’t trust you and frankly I don’t think Luna would even accept it.” He held out hand to stop Cho and Mandy from speaking. “However, if you want to try, give it to her yourselves.”

“That’s the problem.” Cho said. “We can’t find her in the halls and she always disappears as soon as classes end… and Miss McGonagall had made it clear that we are not to be around them…”

Draco smiled sardonically, Hermione had to be contained every time she saw Chang and her gang, it was actually the Claw’s luck that those two were joined at the hip, with Luna around Hermione behaved… mostly. “That’s too bad. Not sorry we can’t help you.” He said as he grabbed the younger boy by-a-whole-month by the arm and dragged him towards their next class. “Com’n Harry, Snape’ll kill us if we are late.”

The two lost Ravenclaws simply watched as the boys left almost at running speed. There was something about those two that made them uneasy. How it was that the two worst enemies that touched the school were now such good friends?

XxXxX

“I really, really hate her.” Harry commented as he and Draco joined Hermione in the bench of Potions class.

The brunette, with her nose buried in a book like always when alone, simply asked without looking at the boys that sat at either side of her. “Who?”

Draco and Harry exchanged a wary glance for over the brunette’s head. They had been discussing the little meeting they had just had and had kind of forgotten the Ravenclaws were taboo around their friend. “Nobody?” The shaggy haired boy said.

Hermione snapped her book shut and turned in her seat slowly too face the boy. It was just creepy how the girl was a mask of utter calmness with just a hint of anger. “Let me guess. Chang?”

Harry winced. How it was that Hermione always knew what they were talking about? Did the girl read minds or what?

Draco was of the same opinion. “Are you now practicing Legilimens, or what?”

The girl between them smiled sadistically as she turned to him. “No, Drake. I just happened to see how you two _talked_ to her and Brocklehurst like you four were friends!” She almost snarled the last part. Who it was that her male friends were so stupid?!

The blond frowned. “We are not friends, you insolent witch.” He hissed. “They wanted us to give Luna a card. We tell them no.”

The brunette seethed. “And you didn’t hex them?!” The temperature in the usual warm room dropped dangerously low. It was in their good luck that the room was still empty and they were the only three in there. Hermione arrived early because she had to drop Luna in Charms and used a passage near Flitwick’s classroom to the dungeons and the wizards were early because both boys had had a free period.

Harry gulped behind her. An annoyed Hermione was not a good thing, but a furious one was something to really be afraid of. He had not seen her like this in a really long time, not even that day when he lost Luna had she been so angry. He looked at the jars and vials in the shelves and noticed how they were starting to be covered in a fine sheet of ice.

“No, Hermione, we didn’t.” Draco’s stern voice only made him wince. Draco was starting to get angry too… not a good thing, not a good thing those two combined. “We know we are forbidden to do that. Your mother would have our asses if we even attempt to harm them. Hell, she even changed our schedules so we don’t see a Claw anymore!”

“Argh!” Hermione yelled frustrated. Somewhere in the back of the room a crashing sound was heard. The brunette gripped her book so tightly that her nails pierced its soft cover. Her body started trembling and Harry did not have to see her eyes to know they were no longer bronze.

“Hey!” The blond wizard held her face and forced her to look at him. Her eyes were indeed deep blue, with a strange glint lurking behind them. “Call the hell down, Mia!”

Tears started pouring down her cheeks as she scrunched up her nose. “I want to kill her!” She sobbed out, trying to regain her composure and failing miserably.

Harry looked alarmed at Draco. The vials in the walls had starting shaking and he could see his breath coming out his mouth. That was not what was bothering him, no, it was the unmistakable fury in the girl’s voice and the grip on her powers that she was losing. Her pendant was even floating in the air, only the chain that connected it with Hermione preventing it from flying away, and her hair was flapping with the force of her powers. It had taken Harry by surprise one day to discover her friend making snowballs in the sitting room of her old quarters and throwing them to a giggling Luna. Hermione had explained to him that it was a power she had always but had only learnt to control it last summer with McGonagall’s help. Now the little snow fights were common on lazy days when the blondes sided against the brunettes or it was boys versus girls. It was nice, it was fun.

Hermione had an iron grip on her frosty powers. She never lost control… unless she was truly upset.

“Mia, calm down, you can’t kill her.” Draco explained gently. “No matter how much we want it, we can’t.”

Harry got up and ran to the door, quickly casting a series of charms and spells to lock it and prevent anyone from hearing or entering the place. Class was schedule to start in only ten minutes and he knew he was of better use in the door than trying to comfort Hermione, that was Luna and Draco’s job.

“Why not?” She cried as she tried to take deep breaths and forced her trembling down.

“Because we are not monsters.” The blond boy said calmly. It was not use to get angry with the girl when she was feeling too much. Until now he had thought Hermione was simply being the usual girlfriend looking for a little revenge, but that she claimed to want to kill her… that was just too much. There was something wrong, entirely wrong here. “Mia, we are not coldblooded murderers.”

“But she hurt Luna.” Hermione let her eyes close. “She made her life miserable for more than a year.” It was a surprise for Draco to realize that it was Cho Chang the first to antagonize the little blonde, she had been the one to invite the rest of the house and she had been the one that was responsible of every prank, insult and theft that the girl suffered, both directly and indirectly. Hermione wanted the bitch to hurt as Luna had been hurt, or preferably worse.

“But she is a stupid girl.” Draco tried to reason with his friend. He could hear Harry still chanting the spells, but he could also hear the pounding to the door. Snape was here. “She is a child, she is not mature enough to realize her mistakes, and she hasn’t lived enough.”

And that was true. Hermione was wise beyond her years thanks to her schooling, Granmama’s training and the living experiences she had had, just as Draco and Harry were more mature because the way they were raised and the dangers they had faced. It was one thing to be an Inner Circle Death Eater’s child, an abused kid by his uncle and aunt or a girl forced to learn everything but was showed no love, and another totally different to be a spoiled brat. Cho Chang was the youngest of three, born in a wealthy Chinese family that specialized in enchanted silks. She was far down in the line to not to have to learn the family’s trade nor to worry about the family’s finances. She was the baby of the family, the one that always was granted everything and on whom there were no expectations.

“But she could’ve killed her.” Hermione murmured, her anger finally waning. Was it fair to punish a child so harshly when it did not know better?

“She didn’t, Mia, she didn’t.” The Slytherin sighed. “Chances are that if I didn’t antagonize them Edgecombe wouldn’t send that curse. It is partially my fault.”

The brunette opened her eyes, they were no longer blue and had changed back to their normal bronze hue. “No. You saved her. I was not there to defend her and she was alone. You helped her and saved her, and I thank you for that.” She let herself fall into the boy’s chest, spent at having to control her powers. “I’m sorry I snapped.” They could hear Snape yelling and Harry cursing.

“It’s okay, Mia. You are in control now.” Draco murmured, embracing the girl. “Remember we are not monsters, we are not Candice, we are not Richard.”

“We are no Lucius.” Hermione smiled at the little phrases that had been so common between them once they became real friends and they started sharing their pasts and the fear both had of becoming their parents. That Draco had been the one to start using them just made it sweeter. “We are not Vernon.” She simply had to add because they knew Harry was listening and because it was true, none of the three were like them, even when the three feared they could be like them one day.

“Aye. We are not Voldemort.” The blond hummed. “Ready to face the greasy git?”

The brunette laughed out loud. “I guess.” She turned to the younger boy whose wand was still waving around. “Come here, Harry. I’ll keep the shields up.” Harry nodded and once he felt the spells were supported he jogged back to his seat.

Five minutes later Snape finally was able to open the door, Slytherins and Gryffindors peeking over his shoulder, only to find three students silently reading their potion manuals and discussing quietly the potion they did last class. When questioned they confused replied that they arrived early to study but never heard him at the door. It was just the trio’s luck that Peevees chose that moment to appear in the middle of the room and crackled up while slamming the door shut before escaping through the wall, promptly taking the blame of this little ‘prank’.

Or maybe their luck was that the poltergeist was witness of the brunette’s melt down and was, for once, nice enough to help her out.  

XxXxX

Daphne watched perplexed at the blonde boy that was without doubt holding Morgen’s hand beneath the table. Something strange had happened as soon as the school started back after Easter Break. The whole school was encouraged to stay during the week so that they could do the mountains of homework not unusual for the break. But no matter how busy the Snake’s Den had been, nobody had noticed that Malfoy was absent most of the time.

Then, the first day of the new term, they finally noticed. Gone were the boy’s things, the bed was made but there were neither trunk nor clothes in the wardrobe. His Nimbus 2001 was also missing in action from the shed the Slytherin House had for their brooms. For a moment the house had panicked as their Prince was gone. Was he expelled? Did he simply packed and left? Was his father debt to the Ministry so big he no longer could afford the school?

All their fears were nullified when he showed up in class, sitting relaxed reading a book none of them knew ever existed. His usually gelled hair was uncombed, leaving his platinum locks wild and too cute for words. What made all the Slytherin actually jaws drop was that the boy was in the Gryffindor side of the room and was sitting beside Morgen. The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice was also with them, and while all the Cubs where giving him the evil eye, he simply kept reading until Professor Greenwood arrived and started her lecture.

The pattern kept repeating. In all the classes they shared with the Lions Draco would sit with Morgen and Potter. Amazingly enough it did not ended there, no, in the classes they shared with the Puffs the Morgen girl and Potter brat suddenly appeared, sitting next to Draco, the only red and golden clad students in a sea of greens and yellows. Well, Potter was in fact the only one wearing red and golden, albeit a little on the grey side, but the Morgen girl’s tie and robes were as black as they got when new. And in the classes that they shared with the Claws there was no blond wizard anywhere to be seen. It was just too strange.

Then the rumors started. A seventh year heard that Malfoy had been re-sorted in the Gryffindor House and that Gran-, no, McGonagall, had been forced to spend time with him every class so that he could acclimate to the Lion’s ways. A firstie swore that he saw how Malfoy and the Headmistress’ daughter were snogging away in a closet near the third floor corridor that had been closed since she started school. Some second year heard how a third year Claw was telling her friends about the ambush four of their housemates did on Loony Lovegood and how Malfoy had helped her out.

She did not know why but that last one was the most unrealistic one. The second one was also a lie and everybody and their mother knew that. The Weasley Twins had started going around school with a bet pool around the second weekend of January, apparently the closeness between Morgen and Loony was sign enough that something deeper would develop. Most of her classmates bet, there were little things funnier than making money out of someone’s love life and, while most of them bet that they would not end together, all of them were surprised that Professors Lupin and Greenwood also bet. The DADA teacher bet on them kissing around Valentine, which was too cliché, and the Transfiguration teacher bet on them kissing between Christmas and the start of term. Why the woman lost her money so pitifully was just something they could not grasp; why would she bet on a date that had already passed and was more than certain they had not kissed yet?

Either way, something happened to the Slytherin Prince that drove him to Morgen’s arms, and in consequence put him in the hit list of all the pureblood fanatics, in other words, just shy the half her House.

She smiled. He was so brave.

 

# Chapter Thirty-Nine – Long Lost Cousin

“Nervous?”

A chestnut eyebrow raised behind an open book. “Why should I?”

“Because the name you’ll be showing.” Harry commented.

Hermione closed her book with a sigh and regarded her two companions. The three of them were chilling in their sitting room, all of them having the same free period. While Draco was always the first one to start teasing her, Harry had adopted his bad habit by always continue the teasing where he left off. She really did not know why they thought the practical use of the Namae Suiyaku was making her feel bad.

“I know what my name will be, you two dimwits.” She shook her head. It was not that difficult to know, really. “I’ll be Hermione Jean Granger, that’s my magical name, even though I’m legally a McGonagall.”

“Explain again how the potion works?” Harry asked, his teasing forgotten once he realized the teasing was going nowhere.

Hermione nodded. “Once we arrive at the Sonorus Room we’ll use the Tengu feather to collect the potion, pretty much the same way we do with a normal writing feather. Then will prick our fingers with it, to avoid contaminating the rest of the potion, and then we’ll write our names in a piece of paper. If we write our true name it’ll appear as we write, if not, the feather will burst on flames and the burning potion on itself will write our true name. If I write McGonagall the feather will surely burst, and I happen to like that feather, so I’ll simply write Granger.”

“We also need to be sure to write our names properly.” Draco added. “If we have a single spelling mistake the feather will also combust.”

“So Crabbe and Goyle would lose their feathers, then.” Harry smirked.

“And so would Ron.” Hermione snorted.

“Huh?” Draco asked intelligently. “Why would the Weasel loose his feather?”

“Because he always forgets to write his whole name, he always writes only Ron and he never, never, writes down the Bilius.”    

“Biluis?!” Draco howled. “Oh, Merlin! That’s rich!”

“Is not worse than Lucius… or Draco, really.”

The blonde stopped his laughing immediately. “What did you say, Hermy?” He narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

“Nothing, Coco. Just that Harry is really the only one of us that has a normal name.” Hermione said in all her wisdom. “I have a mouthful of a name, with a lovely meaning, but still strange enough to be laughed at. You are literally named bright dragon… is it a nice name, but it is strange…”

“Not really.” Draco shook his head. “The Black Family has the tradition of naming every one after a star or constellation, so my name is not one of the worst out there in the family tree. If it weren’t for my Father I’d really like Lucius, is powerful. Besides, olden names like Albus and Orion are quiet common in wizarding society.”

“What’s in a name?” Harry asked suddenly. “I mean, why it’s so important to have a magical name?”

Hermione turned to Draco, this, this she did not know. “Well, it’s mostly important to keep track of the blood status.” He hesitated gulped when the witch glared at him. “Is important to know the magical name in order to appoint heirs, reclaim houses, secrets, and family traditions. In the magical society the name is what gives you legal personality, the records update themselves as soon as a magical is born, so the only way of knowing your legal status is through your name. The goblins use it to keep tabs of the individuals and their affairs with their nation. Other creatures like some merpeople and the Shinigami use it as leverage to control people…” He scratched the top of his head, tossing the platinum hair in a way that resembled Harry’s locks. “I guess a name is important because it holds information and power. Know the name, know the person and their history.”

“I guess…” Hermione conceded. For her a name was just a way to call oneself, just a label parents put on their children. For her the nicknames and pet names were more important because they were given in accordance to the person’s personality and the affections of the ones calling. Just like her Neenie and Mia.

“Hey, Harry.” Draco said, looking at the forlorn expression in friend face. “Why the long face?”

“I never actually thought about my name.” Harry confessed. “I was just Harry, and then I was Harry Potter. I don’t have traditions or secrets my family left me because I never knew them. Am I a Potter even if I don’t know how to be one?”

“Magically speaking? Yes. Legally speaking? Yes. Emotionally speaking? No. You are more like a Crabbe.” Draco’s jib earned him a swift punch in the shoulder. “No, really. Your name, as your blood, is what ties you to your family magic. That’s why Muggleborns are almost always so weak, they have no family magic to tap in, and that’s why most sensitive pureblood are against breeding. You are a Potter no matter how you were raised.”

“But,” Hermione frowned. “Say that you’re Lucius and Narcissa’s son, but they chose you to name you Black, then you’ll tap to both the Malfoy and the Black magic, right?”

“Yes and no.” Draco scratched his head again. This was complicated to explain to a pair of Muggle-raised. “I’ll be tapping to both families’ magic because I’m blood of both of them, yet I’ll never be a Black. That’s the trick with the magical names, you cannot change the name the magic gives you. Your given name is chosen by your magic, not the other way around. The blood it what feeds the magic, who is the one to choose the name.” He cringed. “I’m sorry I can’t explain it better, is just one of those things that simply are.”

Hermione nodded, knowing she would be reading a book on the subject by the end of the week. She looked at the strange clock that had followed her from her previous rooms and was now a top the new fireplace. “Come on, you two, I need to fetch Luna from Charms and then we need to head to find out our names.”

The boys sighed and raised, Draco more gracefully than Harry. “Let us get our brooms first, Mia, we are going flying before dinner.”

The brunette nodded. “You have five minutes.”

“Yes, Mia.” They said in unison. Both knew that disobeying Hermione was not worth the effort.

XxXxX

“So, this is it.” Sirius said to the people in the room. “We’ll finally figure out if Ella is here.” After hearing the name so many times over the last four months the name had simply stuck.

“Oh, dear Merlin, I hope she’s here.” Narcissa sighed. It had been really long, hard, months for the divorcee woman. Not only her ex-husband was finally sentenced, no to the Kiss but a lifetime stay at Azkaban, and she had to manage all the Malfoy states so that she could pay the Ministry while still retaining enough for her son to claim. That added with the constant nagging of the knowledge of her nice alive somewhere was just the best recipe for a headache.

“If she’s here she doesn’t not know who she is.” Sirius commented. Narcissa had been informed that the ‘seminar’ had started a week ago and that today was the day they will know for sure about the secret identity of Capella M. Black.

Over the week Sirius and Tonks had showed the students different ways to show ones identity. So far they had made the kids throw the spells to one another, after charming themselves to change something about their appearance. None of the kids had suddenly changed drastically, signaling that none of them had any concealment charms on them on daily basis. No one was nervous, either. If the girl knew of her true heritage she would be a wreck, trying to find a way of another to avoid having her name revised.

Minerva nodded. She and Sirius had neglected to tell Narcissa about their suspicions regarding Hermione. There was still the possibility that the girl was not Voldemort’s daughter so there was no reason to get the Black woman’s hopes high when there was nothing to be hoping for.

Of course they had not tell Hermione either.

“Missus Black and I will be waiting here, Sirius, if she appears please bring her here.” Minerva ordered rather than requested as she sipped her cup of tea in an effort to show a little of calmness. _‘And please don’t let her be my little girl.’_

The Auror stood and prepared to leave to the Sonorus Room, the biggest classroom the school had and the place where the final day of the little seminar would take place. In just under an hour they would know if the girl was in the castle or no. “Well, then, I’ll be back in a while.” He bowed respectfully to the two seated women and left the Headmistress private sitting area to go fetch Tonks and get the room ready.

Narcissa saw how the man left her with her former Transfiguration teacher. She had not the pleasure to acquaintance with her as Siruis had done, but so far she felt at ease in her presence, there was just a small lingering fear she had for the really, really, stern professor that once gave her detention for something she did not do. Or course McGonagall had not known that, how could she explain that Lucius was forcing her to go down his robes against her wishes when he had all the right to demand of her that and more, especially because she was already engaged to him? That time had been mortifying and scary. There was nothing worse than having Minerva McGonogall’s disapproving eyes staring down at you.

She coughed softly as she eyed the older woman from the corner of her eye. “Thank you for allowing me to be here, Professor.”

The Headmistress sighed. “Call me Minerva, you are no longer a student here. And I’m sorry I can’t do more to find your niece.”

The blonde nodded. “Please call me Narcissa, Minerva, and what you are doing is more than you should. I’m thankful.”

“I should be able to tell you sooner, Narcissa, if Severus hadn’t been a complete ass. He was to teach the potion as soon as the materials got here, but he refused.”

Narcissa nodded, she was familiar with the man and his ways. She was also aware that he had been Lucius best friend and a bastard just like him. The man would do nothing more than what it was expected of him without having something in return first.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, just waiting for the potion to do its job and find the lost Black Heir.

XxXxX

“So, this is it.” Sirius said to the people in the room. “We are finally at the last day of this week long seminar. While I can tell you it was really fun working with you, I can relate to Snivellus, I’m sorry, Snape, on why he is all grumpy… teaching the lot of you on daily basis could really damage one’s sense of preservation.” He said eyeing wearily to the redheaded twins and a trio of Hufflepuffs that had managed to made his classes really hard, in the teaching sense of the word.

“Today is the day we say goodbye…” Tonks sang in a rather high pitched and out of tune voice, making the room full of fifths, sixths and sevenths years laugh. “But I really liked being in this side of the classroom. You made the experience rather enjoyable, so thank you.” She sniffled and the ones sitting in the first rows later swore she was crying slightly. 

“Okay, kids. You’ve been given your potions that had sat untouched for four days now. You also have your Tengu feather and it’s time to test the results. In front of you there is a piece of parchment, the only thing you need to do is gather a little of the potion in your feather, pick your finger with it and write your name down in the paper. Now before you start, remember to write your whole name, no short names, nicknames, and do not avoid writing embarrassing middle names. If you fail to do this the feather will start smoking… the bigger the mistake the bigger the flame, so, if you want to have a feather to write later on, you need to be as truthful as possible. It you want to test and see if the feather really combust, write whatever name you like and see how the potion shows you your real name. Now,” The Auror clapped his hands. “Begin!”

Hermione looked at Draco as he did as told. He opened his potion’s vial and gingerly scooped some in the point of the feather, before pricking his finger and writing down in his wide handwriting. ‘Draco Lucius Malfoy’ appeared in the parchment in dark ink, and after a moment, it flashed dully before changing to a copper brown. His name was the right one.

She turned to her right, where Harry was starting to do the same after watching Draco’s demonstration. He winced softly when the fine tip of the feather pierced his skin and wrote down the name he knew as his. ‘Harry James Potter’ was written in scrawny lines in the same dark ink, but this time the feather lit at the top as the words flashed. Quickly putting out the flames, Harry did not notice when the name flashed and changed before his eyes. Looking more closely, Hermione made out a ‘Harrius James Potter’ printed in the same copper color Draco’s was.

“It looks like someone lit their feathers!” Sirius called to them from the front of the room. “Who was it?” He had seen the smoke near Hermione and his heart stopped, no matter that there were at least dozen more students also extinguishing their feathers. Ron, Crabbe and Goyle were the ones with the most smoke, but they did not really matter.

He was then shocked when Harry raised his hand. “Apparently my name’s not Harry, Sirius,” He said to the room, a little surprised himself. “I’m Harrius?” The last part was more a question than a statement as all the people looked at him with barely concealed amusement. Harry Potter surely sounded better than Harrius Potter, but they guess they could relate to him, as most of them had their own weird names.

The Auror snorted. Surely he had to forget that. “My fault, boy, should tell you sooner.” He snickered. “At least you weren’t named after your ancestor Ignotus like James wanted.”

The room erupted in laughs at that, at least he had that.

While the room was making fun of her friend Hermione started on her own paper, her left hand playing yet again with her small pendant. With the feather ready she wrote her name carefully, making sure it was understandable in her almost always neat script. She jumped then, when after writing the ‘r’ in ‘Granger’, her whole feather exploded, creating much more smoke than Harry’s… and everyone else in the room.

“What the-” She cut herself short when she read the name that appeared in her same handwriting but that was completely unfamiliar.

Draco and Harry looked at the piece of parchment and the copper words on it. The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice choke on his own saliva and the former Slytherin Prince paled as he read out loud the name. “Capella Morgen Black… Mia,” He turned to scared deep bronze eyes, murmuring totally stunned. “You’re my lost cousin.”

 

# Chapter Forty – Exotic Bugs

Fridays were the most boring days ever. The schedule of this new term surely had done nothing to help with that fact. Not only she had double History of Magic after breakfast, that class always made her sleepy with a full stomach, but she also had Charms and Herbology after lunch, so she had to see two of her most hated Professors and how they gave her the evil eye. It was no secret that the plump witch was shagging the little man after hours, which was an image none in the school body was happy to imagine, so it was no shock that the Hufflepuff Head of House was a little biased when it came to the most problematic Claw ever sorted in the House.

Of course Luna was now above that. It had taken the first several weeks of the year to convince those two professors that she was actually working in the works assigned and that she was the one actually doing the work. She though it was because the papers and essays were actually coherent that they finally stopped trying to make her look bad in front the whole class, not that they ever succeeded. Or maybe they stopped because the death glare Hermione sent their way every time she picked her up from class.

Whatever the reason was, she was prepared for it to be a long, boring Friday. That was why when Draco burst into Greenhouse 12 out of breath and with his brooms on his grasp, everybody, Sprout included, jumped alarmed.

“Mister Malfoy!” The round woman scolded him. “What right do you think you ha-” Her speech was however interrupted when the panting blond boy said three words looking at her dead in the eye.

“S-She needs you!”

Luna was in less than a second behind Draco on his broom, racing towards where she knew the Sonorus Room was.

XxXxX

Turned out to be, they were not headed to the Sonorus Room, but to the Headmistress’ Office. The two blonds dismounted the Nimbus Two-Thousand-One and found a nervous Harry pacing back and forth just before the Gargoyle Guard.

“What are you doing out here?” Draco asked alarmed.

“They kicked me out!” The young Gryffindor yelled. “They saw me entering behind them and they kicked me out!”

“What happened?” Luna asked, dreading the answer. Last time she checked the three fifth years were simply going to take the Name Test and then start enjoying their weekend. Draco had not said why Neenie needed her, only that she did.

“Mia’s name is not Hermione Granger,” Draco sighed. He knew they would not be allowed entry for a while. He silently motioned for them to enter one of the unused rooms at the end of the corridor the Office was in. “Nor its McGonagall… She’s a Black.” He murmured the very last part as they sat on the floor near the door.

The blonde witch tilted her head to the side… surely he had not said Black, right? But then again Neenie was full of surprises. “Really?”

Harry nodded. “Apparently her name is Copella Morgen Black.”

“Capella.” Draco corrected. “Her name is Capella Morgen Black.”

The other two turned to him. Their eyebrow raised in a fairly bad imitation of a stern Hermione. “And how would you know?”

The Slytherin looked at the two of them. He knew both were important in Mia’s life, one was her little brother, the other was the girl’s true love. He also knew that no matter what was said in the room Mia would inform them as soon as she was released. He also knew that she would need all the support she could have. “Mother told me of her not too long ago.”

“Your mother knew her?” Luna asked confused. “How?”

“Mia’s my cousin, Moon.” He bit his lip nervously. “Remember I told you about my lost cousin, right? The one that supposedly my Aunt Bella killed?”

The two youngsters nodded once, somber, their minds already connecting the dots they were given.

“Well, Mia is her.”

That should have not surprised them, the three reluctantly acknowledged. Hermione was a force to be reckoned with and she was the most intelligent witch in the century, not to mention that she was really powerful. Draco and Luna had explained to the two Muggle-raised Gryffindors that the more diluted the magical blood was in the person the less magical power they had, and that that fact was what fuelled all the Pureblood mentality Voldemort so expertly exploited. It then was almost impossible for Muggle-born Hermione Granger to be as powerful and skilled as she was. Her being a Black surely explained a lot of things.

“That’s great, right?” Luna said with a hesitant smile.

“Maybe… I didn’t tell you the whole thing…” Draco muttered ashamed. He had wanted to tell them everything but his mother had made him promise not to share the family’s secret. He had somewhat violated that when he told Mia via owl and then Hare and Moon, with Mia nearby, face to face. Keeping secrets from his three friends did not sit well with him, so he had to compromise with himself; he told them a little about his cousin leaving out many of the most important details.

 “What?”

“That I didn’t tell you the whole thing.”

“Why?”

“Because Mother made me promise not to tell.”

“When?”

“First Hogsmeade weekend of the year.”

“Why?”

The blonde wizard sighed. “Let me tell you two what my Mother told me and then we’ll see about the one word questions, okay?”

The two of them finally relented and let the older wizard start speaking.

“Okay. Harry, whatever happens, remember Mia loves you, okay?”

The raven haired boy blinked at that, but never said anything, he just nodded again.

“Mia is Capella Morgen Black, daughter of Bellatrix LeStrange and Tom Marvolo Riddle.” That elected a gasp from the other two. Draco had told them she was daughter of Bellatrix, but he never mentioned the father. They had simply assumed she was his Uncle’s child. “Mother told me that the Dark Lord wanted a heir and chose Aunt Bella, as she was his most loyal, to be the bearer of her. She told me they were hoping for a boy, but that the moment he saw Mia he fell in love. Apparently Aunt Bella blamed his love for Mia for the failure of killing you, something along the lines that his love was a weakness that allowed you to defeat him, so in order to avenge her Master she killed her.”

“But-” Luna tried to interrupt only to have Draco glaring at her.

“As I was saying, she was killed and nobody thought of checking if Aunt Bella’s claims were true, nobody looked for her and nobody dared to say there had been an heir after my Aunt’s incarceration. Mother didn’t say anything in fear I was taken away and the rest that knew simply dismissed the accident, they were more concerned with saving their lives.” The boy swallowed. “Sirius made the discovery over Christmas and I believe this Identification Seminar was a plot to try and see if she was here…”

“And she was.” Harry finished. The tale was too strange, too fantastic, yet surprisingly believable. For a moment he contemplated hating her, but she was his big sister, his first true friend. She was his Mia.

“She’ll be scared.” Luna said quietly, interrupting Harry’s musings. “She’ll be really scared.”

“Luna?”

The blonde witch looked at them dead in the eye, hers filled with so much sorrow they wondered how it was possible for the usually joyous girl to possess the feeling. “She was sure of whom she was, she was sure that her parents never loved her and she had resigned to that. But now, there are two beings that actually loved her and she’ll be scared.”

Draco frowned. “Why? I’d give everything to simply know my father loved me, even when it’s not true.”

Luna shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. “Hermione doesn’t know what is to have loving parents. She’s still sometimes struggling with her relationship with Minerva,” She blinked and let two fat drops fall. “I know she’s still waiting for something to make her go away. I think she’s also waiting for something to shoo me away.”

“I really don’t understand.” Harry said and Draco nodded.

The witch sighed, trying to reel in her tears. “Harry, you grew up with the hate of your aunt and uncle, but I know deep inside you knew your parents loved you, right?” The raven haired boy nodded. He always knew his parents died loving him. “And Draco, no matter how much your father abused you and your mother, you knew she loves you with all her heart and that she’ll do anything for you.” The blond male nodded too. “I know I’m loved back home too, but Hermione never knew that. The Grangers never loved her, and I think her grandmother only took care of her basic needs, never her emotional ones. She was so used to be by herself, emotionally, that coming here and having friends was a huge challenge. She was devoid of any affection until she came to Hogwarts. She started making friends and being like any normal girl. Add to that that the Headmistress actually cares for her and her world was shaken uncontrollably. She’s still trying to find her balance, for her being loved by someone is totally foreign and she’s still trying to cope with that. To this day I still don’t know how it was that she accepted me, that she opened up to me, because if I were her I’d never love like she does, so selflessly and deeply.”

“I have no clue either.” The somber new voice made the trio jump. So engrossed they were in their conversation that they had failed to notice that the very topic of their chat was there, listening to them. While they gaped at her Hermione continued talking, ignoring the guilty smiles they were giving her. “I just looked at you and fell in love.”

It took the younger girl a second to be on her feet and launch herself into her girlfriend’s arms. “Are you okay?”

Hermione laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, I’m great.” She snorted in sarcasm. “I just discovered I’m the spawn of Voldypants and that McGonagall knew it since January and she just put me on the spotlight for the whole school to know about it.”

The other three shared a look at the name she used to refer to her Mama. It did not take them much to realize she was mad at the old Headmistress and frankly they did not blame her. The way Hermione’s heritage had been revealed was just crude and cruel, having all the fifth years upwards around when her name was revealed was simply too inconsiderate. But even so, hearing her so bitter was something truly alien to them.

Draco rose from his spot on the floor too and gently approached the embracing witches. “Mia.” He sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story. I never even consider you were my cousin, I’m so sorry.”

Hermione let go of Luna and faced the male blond. “Your mother was there.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes. She didn’t say anything, but she kept looking at me like I was an exotic bug.”

Draco scoffed. “Don’t insult the bugs, Mia, no matter how mundane or exotic, they are cuter than you.”

The brunette wasted no time to slap the boy’s shoulder. “And no matter what kind of situation we’re in, Coco, you’re still an ass.”

The Slytherin smiled sadly at that. “Are you really okay?”

“I’m great.” Nobody believed her but they knew better than to call her out on it.

“Mia,” Harry ventured softly. He had gotten up with Draco but was a little reluctant to get near them. Luna was her girlfriend and Draco was her blood, the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice had no right to be here. He was, however, too worried for the woman he considered his sister. “Please, tell us what happened. Why did they kick me out?”

“They think they wo-” Hermione interrupted herself when she heard the unmistakable sound of the Gargoyle opening followed by four set of hurried footsteps. “Crap, I need to get out of here.”

Her companions looked at her stunned. Hermione never swore and never with that look of panic in her face. Draco was the first one to recover. “What did you do?!” He whispered harshly while putting a silencing charm around them. Harry followed suit a second later and raised his own disillusionment charm just in time to prevent the three women and the man that ran down the corridor from seeing them.

Hermione looked sheepishly at them, showing them the first emotion since she had discovered them talking. “I may have gotten mad and frozen them.”

Luna giggled at the absurdity of her girlfriend’s actions and that only serve to crack the other three up. While they released the tension of such delicate situation with a hearty laugh they were not surprised that the brunette’s laugh turned from joyous pearls of mirth to soul wracking sobs of deep misery. The moment the first tear hit the floor the younger witch was instantly melting onto the Gryffindor’s chest, her forehead snuggly fitting under the girl’s chin. When the first howl left her mouth Draco was in a flash behind her, his long arms embracing both witches as his cheek came to rest over Hermione’s chocolate tresses. The second her body started shaking Harry was at her left, sneaking his arms in between the two blondes and hugging her with all his might, his nose hiding in Luna’s flaxen hair.

When Hermione’s knees failed her, three pair of arms made sure she made the way to the floor unharmed. When her sobs did not subside she started receiving kisses on the cheek, on the head and all over her chin. When her hiccup made itself known soft words of comfort were murmured in three different pitches, always reminding her she was loved.

She now knew McGonagall had failed her like every adult had failed her. It hurt her more than she could ever imagine, it tore at her heart and made it bled with emotions she had never associated with an adult. The question now was if she was ready to forgive her as she had never forgiven those who had hurt her. Like her parents.

Then again, they were not her parents, right? Did she have the right to hate them?

She knew that Draco and her were family, and those were great news, the only silver lining in all this mess, but what did that mean? Would she now be forced to use the Black name? Or she would keep going like a McGonagall? Did she still have that right after freezing the Headmistress?

She did not know. What she did know was that the moment she was spent after crying away in the arms of the only three she now understood would always be by her side. As she closed her eyes and surrendered to the love they were giving her she had effectively cried all her pain away, even when the concerns remained.

Two hours after her breakdown started found Hermione being cradled bridal style out of the unused room and towards the school’s gates. Harry and Luna followed as Draco carried the exhausted brunette towards Hogsmeade, their eyes never leaving their constant vigilance as their wands maintained a silencing and disillusionment charm each, making sure no one knew the four were leaving.

They all knew staying in the castle was out of the question. 

 

# Chapter Forty-One – Of Noisy Old Ladies and Greasy Gits

“Jean, dear, it’s too good to see you again! Tell me, darling, aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

After leaving the castle in what could possibly be the perfect escape on a cloudy night, they had flooed immediately to the Leaky Cauldron before they were seeing by Rosmerta or any other adult that knew Hogwarts students were not allowed in the village during the week and outside visit weekends. From there they had quickly shed their robes and ties, leaving them with what looked like a normal everyday secondary school uniform, before heading to Muggle London where they blended in with the masses of students wearing their own uniforms and trying to party in the Friday early night.

The ride Hermione had caught from Draco had let her rest enough so that they promptly went to her Muggle bank and withdrew enough money to last them a week. With a brunette practically running with her last reserves and a blonde that actually had a bed time, there was no discussion when Draco suggested renting a couple of rooms in a motel they passed while trying to decide what to do next.

The screams had woken them up in the middle of the night and for a moment the boys, that were sharing a room, thought someone was killing Hermione and feared for both her and Luna. Running in just their boxers into the room they were surprised, yet really concerned, when they found a topless brunette crying her heart out on Luna’s equally uncovered chest. The little blonde looked at them with the most sorrowful eyes they had seen, never shy about their clothing condition, and simply shook her head, indicating there was nothing they could to help the crying Hermione.

With heavy hearts they had returned to their room and tried forget about it. The next morning they rose to discover that none of the four had managed to sleep at all after Hermione’s nightmare and thus Luna and Draco were introduced to the wonderment coffee is. After their continental breakfast in a nearby café they had gone shopping for necessities and some clothes that could help them merge with the Muggle world better. While searching for a pair of trainers for the big footed Draco Hermione declared they would go to her Grandmama’s house to spend the rest of the weekend.

And that was how they found themselves carrying each a bag pack with their clothes and necessities and with the boys holding a couple of grocery bags in front the bricked house they learnt was where Hermione grew up. The brunette was just a couple of paces from entering the house when a nosy old lady had approached them.

The brunette smiled, and while for her companions it was obviously forced, for the elderly lady it was truly honest. “Hello Miss Patmore, is good to see you too. They had a not so small plumbing problem at the boarding school and we had to be evacuated due the flooding.” She turned briefly towards her three friends that were behind her. “These are my friends, Sophia and Drake Schlimme and James Kruger. They were unable to go home so I offered a place to stay.”

“But my darling! You are too young to be by your own! Specially little Sophia!”

Hermione’s smile widened, a clear yet fake excited glint shone in her eyes. “Don’t worry, Miss Patmore, Mum and Dad accepted that we used the house for some days, is going to be so exciting!” She practically squealed. “You know I can cook and clean without problem, in fact, you and Mr. Crawley would do us a great honor in joining us tomorrow for lunch.”   

Behind her Draco, Harry and Luna tried not to be so shocked at the blatantly lying brunette and her amazing, for others, acting skills. Had they not know her they would thought she was an airhead girl really high on happiness. They settled with showing amused smiles that could be easily interpreted as happiness for being visiting their friends.

“Really Jean? Your cooking is delightful, just like your Granny’s, of course we will accompany you tomorrow, dear. Tell me darling, I’ve always been curious, why haven’t you sold this house? I know you and your parents left for a while now.”

Hermione’s smile dimmed a little, a wistful look replacing some of the fake merriment. “My Granny left me this house and Mum and Dad said it was okay if I kept it.” A couple of not so acted tears appeared on her cheeks. “I can’t come here often, but it still reminds me of Grandmama and her baking.”

The old lady’s face morphed into one of sad understanding, her almost white hair slightly covered her face while she nodded slowly. “I can understand that, darling, I feel the same when I visit my son’s house, and it always remembers me of my father.” She sighed. “Oh, well, I’ve kept you long enough, I’ll shall see you four tomorrow noon.”

“Until tomorrow Miss Patmore.” Hermione bowed lightly as the elderly woman continue towards her house, the one right next to the one Hermione and her friends were standing outside of. Once the woman was safely out of sight she turned to the others. “Come on you three, let’s order something to eat.”

Once the four friends entered the house they noticed something two of them had never seen before, a thin layer of something they could only call a really, really fine dirt covering all the surfaces and making Luna sneeze. While the two purebloods, raised in magical homes, pondered if they wanted to know what this thing was, Harry asked the question that had been in their minds ever since the old lady intercepted them in the street. “What was that?”

Hermione smile was strained as with a flick of her hand made all the dust disappear on the house. Three years of dirt had really made the house ill equipped to her usual allergies. She did not want to start sneezing like Luna was doing. “That, Harry, was Miss Patmore, my noisy neighbor and also the ticket that can make us stay here for at least four days.”

“Explain.” Draco asked as they moved to the kitchen. He could see a huge white box that was humming softly. He waited patiently as Hermione cleaned the room with a wave of her hand and sat at the table in the middle of the room.

“Well… this house still have A.C.D. wards. The moment we entered they were activated and they’ll send a signal if we remain without adult supervision for more than two days. If Miss Patmore and her brother come here to eat lunch tomorrow then the wards will remain silent for at least four days, thus not alerting the Ministry.” She idly searched inside a small box that was resting in the middle of table for some brochures in there. “Tai or Chinese?” She asked holding out two small papers with strange characters written on them.

Harry lost no time in running to the phone hanging in the wall between the sink and the fridge. “Pizza!”

Hermione chuckled. Of course Harry would like pizza, in fact, knowing her two pureblood friends, they would warm up to a pizza quicker than any other Muggle food. “Fine,” She passed on a pamphlet with the necessary information. “You place the order. And ask for sodas, I have nothing in here to drink other than water and probably beer.”

The raven haired boy smiled in triumph as he made the call, asking for a little of everything. As he called the two blonds sat at the table too, looking around them with marveled eyes. It was their very first time in a Muggle home and it was totally different from what they knew.

“Stop gawking, the house is just a house.” The brunette smirked at them, noticing how they blushed simultaneously.

“Oh, shut up.” Draco grumbled but was eternally grateful when Hermione started explaining them what every thing in the room was for and how they were called. She told them they were not exactly ready to hear how they worked, but the concept of two of those devices, one to cool and one to warm without magic, was simply too foreign and amazing for them, yet equally fun to poke.

XxXxX

“We couldn’t find her, Headmistress.”

The old woman sighed. The four of them, Narcissa, Sirius, Tonks and herself had spent the better part of the day looking for the runaway brunette. After she had flee the night before they had not seen her, or her girlfriend or the boys. In a way that was better than finding her, mostly because she did not know what to do with her. She still could not understand how it was possible for her baby to freeze her and the two Black members so that she could escape what they were telling her. It had been fortunate for them that Tonks had found them not so long after that and was able to thaw them with just a couple of wand movements. “Thank you, Auror Tonks,” She answered the somewhat puzzled declaration form the pink haired woman. “She’ll appear soon.” Or at least she hoped so.

“The girl is clearly a spooky one.” Narcissa Black said under her breath, just loud enough for the other to hear her.

“No she’s not,” Sirius plopped on one of the armchairs that were available for them. Looking around the castle and the Forbidden Forest had made his feet hurt. “She’s responsible enough to make a sensible retreat before she lost control.”

“Huh?”

“Sirius is right. She was starting to lose control so she left.” Minerva explained. “Remember how she had starting shaking and the light blue aura around her? Well that was Hermione starting to unleash her icy powers without her controlling it. She’ll be with her friends right now, trying to calm herself down, and then she’ll be back. She’d never been one to leave things unfinished… and I’m sure she has many questions.”

XxXxX

The commotion the revelation made had the castle in an uproar. Students, especially the younger ones, were all hyper about the news, the older ones, though, were all wondering if Morgen was more than the eye met. In the silence that followed the feather’s explosion, all the room, specially designed to carry the noise, could hear what name had been muttered and to which family it was related. All the students in the Sonorus Room dashed to tell the rest of the castle the moment they were freed about the Slytherin Prince’s cousin, who happened to be no other than the Gryffindor Princess, daughter of the Headmistress, Hermione McGonagall.

The staff could not believe it. Most of them knew what Malfoy’s comment meant. They knew Lucius was an only child, and unless the girl was French and a natural blonde, there was no way she was related to the Malfoys. The last name the girl supposedly had hinted to her heritage, but none of them thought it could be possible for _her_ to have her… was it?

They could not know the way the Black family worked, but their barely there common sense made them understand that with only three Black sisters, all of them married, then the girl could not be a Black. She could easily be a Tonks, she surely had Ted Tonk’s hair, but then it rose the question as to how it was possible for Andromeda to have a second daughter when after Nymphadora was born she was told she would not bore another child. It was also highly improbable that the Metamorphmagus could have a sister that was almost regal in comparison to the Auror’s clumsy and couldn’t-give-a-damn attitude.

Everybody knew it was impossible to Bellatrix LeStrange to have borne a child… both mentally and physically, the lack of LeStrange heirs was more than enough proof about that. So it arose the question of who the girl was really daughter of. Some of those who knew a little about Black Family history knew there were several branches of it, and while the First one was currently lead by Sirius, it could easily be assumed due the secrecy of her origin that the girl could be the Head of another branch no really related to the Malfoy scion or the Auror, yet important enough that the blond boy knew about her and her disappearance.

However, one of the teachers knew the truth and was ecstatic about the news. He had told his Master the moment the girl had arrived to the castle. He had suspected since the beginning that the know-it-all was the Dark Lord’s spawn, he just needed confirmation, a simply thing that his Master could have done in the blink of an eye. But his Master had other plans, yes.

Severus Snape was ordered to remain silent and to keep an eye on the girl and her progresses. She was marvelous since the beginning, with a thirst to learn only rival to one Lily Potter and with the power only the brunette’s biological father could pass on. Knowledge and power where a dangerous combination, especially for one Potion Teacher and his Master’s plans. When it was cleat the girl had no socials skills Snape had been confused, with no friends the girl could not amass an army as Voldemort had done.

And then came the Halloween incident. The Dark Lord’s heir had almost been squashed by a Troll just to be saved the then Boy-Who-Lived, forging a deep friendship between the two that until this day had made them do impossible things for their age. While the test set to protect the Philosopher Stone were certainly easy to complete for a competent adult wizard, it was certainly not designed for first years. The work the three preteens did surely had needed a lot of skill and information in order to compensate their lack of power and the instability their age had over their magic. Snape was certain, as was his Master, that the bushy-haired girl was the responsible of their success. Thus they had plans for her.

Snape was ready to leave the moment Dumbledore had been kicked out the castle to never be seen again, but his Master had ordered him to stick around and keep him informed. When Voldemort was defeated he was so ready to flee, but his Master had put his ass firmly in his classroom chair and had ordered him again to stay. His new, well not so new, assignment: asset the power of one Hermione McGonagall in order to recruit her to their side.

There was just a little problem. The greasy bat and his Master where still not sure what to do with the fact that McGonagall had adopted the girl. The relationship between the two witches was not something they had foreseen, they did not know they were that close to each other and could not possible imagine that they would end being mother and daughter.

Now that the truth, or at least the half of it, was out, Snape could beg his Master to take him out the castle. There was only one what to know, though. With almost a spring in his step he made his way to the owlery to send a letter to his Master, leaving in his wake a sea of scared and confused students.

 

# Chapter Forty-Two- We Still Are Not Monsters

“Do you hate me?” The question was asked to the air and her three friends looked at her with barely concealed fear. They had just stopped eating their pizza, Draco and Luna eating the most of it, and had been calmly watching a telly cartoon about a trio of monsters trying to be the best at school, it was plain weird.

The three friends knew this was coming sooner or later. Hermione was not exactly sure about the way people treated her, as Luna had explained, the brunette was expecting that something happened for her to be alone again, without no Minerva, Luna and possibly without Harry and Draco.

“No.” They answered in a same voice.

“Why would you think that?” Luna was the one to voice the question all of them already knew the answer for.

Hermione scoffed. “Really? I am daughter of two monsters.”

“You’re not a monster. Who are your parents doesn’t make us hate you.” Harry said calmly.

The brunette glared at him, though it was not strong as always as she was sitting in front of him in the carper while he was sitting in the loveseat with Draco, and her twisted body was more hilarious than intimidating. “Are you mental? You should be the one to hate me the most!”

“Why?”

Hermione shot to her feet, knocking the pizza that had been still resting in her lap and inadvertently hitting Luna in the shoulder with her whirling hand.  “My biological father killed your parents!”

Luna jumped scared at the hit. It was an accident, but Hermione was the cute one, the protective one, not the scary, violent one. This reaction was so different from her usual collected anger, the one she adopted when her icy powers were begging to be set free, that she was left shaking and was seconds away from bursting into tears.

Draco saw this from his spot behind the littler blonde and was angry in an instant. Accident or not accident hurting Luna was a big no-no, even Harry looked as he was ready to pounce on the brunette. “Hey!” He yelled. “Knock it out! You hit Luna!”

Hermione’s misplaced anger was instantly transformed to deep regret and not a little fear. “See what I’m talking about?!” She yelled back. “I hurt her, just like he hurt you three!” And she had so promised herself she would not hurt her.

The Slytherin’s anger also deflated. Mia was not thinking straight. “Calm down.” He ordered in his best Narcissa voice, a voice that was soothing and calming yet utterly commanding. “Let’s all take a deep breath.” He waited until the two witches and Harry did as told. “Good, now, Mia sit down, Luna, turn around. Let’s talk like adults here for a moment please.”

They did as they were told. Luna and Hermione sat in the rug before the telly while the boys made themselves comfortable in the loveseat. This would work for all them should Hermione decided to stay near them, instead, she chose to sit as far as possibly while not touching the telly and still staying within ‘polite’ distance from her friends.

Once everyone was at least sitting still, Draco continued. “Capella Morgen Black.” The brunette flinched. “Want it or not, was your name real when we all first met you. I met you on our first potion class and in that moment I knew you’d be an insufferable know-it-all, and I was right. You had always that need to answer everything and to point out when we mere mortals were wrong. You were destined to be a lonely bushy-haired, beaver face… and then came Harry Potter and saved your bony ass from a Troll and changed everything.” Hermione shock at the hurtful words was the only thing that prevented her from bursting into tears. It was killing her knowing that was what Draco really thought of her.

However Harry, maybe for the first time in his life, understood what was planning the cunning blond before Hermione ever did. “Capella Morgen Black made a really terrible mistake that night, she let the hurting words of a redheaded pig to hurt her and so she ended in a toilet ready to be killed. Fortunately for her, and us, Harrius James Potter was a stupid little boy that didn’t valued his life as more important than others and was happy with killing himself to save her. He-”

“Harry…” Hermione mumbled, interrupting him.

“I’m the one talking, you be quiet.” Harry’s glare was not something she had ever seen directed at her. It was the glare that he reserved for Death Eaters and dark lords. It shut her up immediately and made the tears finally start running. “Anyway, she was then a strangely good asset to have around. At first I was swayed by Ron Weasley to think that she was only useful for homework help, however she was more than that. Since the day I really met her she had been the most constant and the only one I can really say is loyal to me and my cause. I can see that now, but back then I was still a stupid boy that wanted nothing but be himself and be left alone. However the girl we now know is Capella Black allowed me to survive all the plans that stupid Dumbledore had to make me die so he could gain eternal glory.”

“Capella Morgen Black.” Luna made sure Hermione had no time to say anything once it was clear the raven haired wizard was not going to say anything. “One look at her in the Sorting Ceremony and I knew she was different. I could easily see she was sitting next the great Harry Potter, and while I could recognize him and Ronald Weasley, she was a mystery.” The blonde blushed. “I remember thinking she was the most beautiful witch in the castle, and something behind her eyes called to me. I was then whiskered away to Ravenclaw and my chances to see her again became almost void. I saw her around the library once or twice before the Tournament began, and then, after Christmas Break I saw her all the time, always reading or doing a paper. I was intrigued by her, but my Housemates had me so occupied that it was impossible to gather the courage or even the impulse to approach her.”

Hermione’s tear kept falling, yet she knew now what they were trying to tell her.

“Capella Morgen Black was also the girl that broke my nose because I was a prat, she was the one to actually help me become a better person, a better friend.” The other blond took from where Luna left. “She hold me when I confessed what Lucius did to my mother and I, she let me cry for the first time in my life, and in return she opened up to me. She told me what happened with her so called parents, she told me she was almost sorted in Slytherien,” Harry looked confused and a little alarmed for a second, before remembering that she was, indeed, daughter of two Slytherins. “She told me she had wanted to quit school just two months in, and I couldn’t believe it. She was, is, the most clever witch of our century, and although this school could offer her more, without the means to reach a magical library she would be stumped, not to mention that she should be forced to attend another school or have her magic bounded.” The boy gulped. “I’m so sorry I was so mean to her. She is a marvelous witch and I did nothing but hurt her and tease her. I’m so sorry.”

“Capella Morgen Black was also the girl that gave me my first hug, and made me feel at home.” Harry could not but blush at the confession he was making. “She was the one that was always there for me, even when I was a stupid brat. I’m sorry, Mia, I hurt you more than once, but please believe me when I say that I love you and that I’ll always be by your side.” It was not often for them to see any of the boys crying, that was a fact that only happened when something extremely emotional happened to them. So, seeing the tears running down Harry and Draco’s faces was a shock to her system.

“Guys…” Hermione almost whimpered.  

“Capella Morgen Black, Hermione Jean Granger, Insufferable Know-It-All, Gryffindor Princess, The Teacher’s Pet, Bookworm Beaver, Mini McGonagall, Neenie, Mia,” Luna listed the names the brunette had been referred as at least twice in her life. “It doesn’t matter how you are called, we love you and who you are. A name doesn’t define you.”

“But my parents…”

“Don’t define you either,” Draco sniffed. “You were the one that told me that, Mia. Remember we are not monsters, we are not Candice, we are not Richard.”

“We are no Lucius.” Hermione smiled slightly. That Draco was saying this to her yet again in such short period of time was worrying. What was she thinking?

“We are not Vernon.” Harry chimed.

“We are not Voldemort nor Bellatrix.” The blond wizard finished.

“I’m sorry, guys.” Hermione cleaned her tears with the sleeves of her sweater. “I was being stupid.”

Luna smiled brightly as she climbed in her girlfriend’s lap. She pecked softly her pale lips. “Yes you were, but we forgive you, love.”

“Yeah, Mia.” Harry grinned as he too dried his tears. “Anybody would be upset after that kind of news.”

Hermione simply smiled as she cuddled the little blonde in her lap. She was no longer Hermione Jean McGonagall, she was now Capella Morgen Black, rather, she had never been Hermione, but she was clever enough to know she had always been the same person and that she would always be herself. And if people started giving her a hard time, she could now use the ‘daddy card’, that actually was a good thing. “Sorry I hurt you.” She mumbled to Luna.

“You only startled me, love, you didn’t hurt me.” The younger witch answered and received a kiss worthy of any honeymoon.

“Come on, let’s head to bed.” Draco, the ever voice of reason when Hermione’s was on vacation being snogged senseless, ordered gently and received three different forms of agreement.

The brunette smile changed to a full grin.

No matter what happened next, she had her wife to-be, her little brother and her best friend. The three of them would always be by her side and the rest of the world did not matter.

XxXxX

“I don’t understand.”

An exasperated sigh. “Is easy, Ron, we go find him and ask for his help.”

The tall redheaded frowned, still confused. “But we don’t know where he is, hell, nobody knows where he is!”

“I told you before, we go to Snape and we let him contact him in our behalf.”

The Weasley boy sneered at that. “Why Snape? Why not Sprout or even Flitwick?”

“Because they don’t know where he is.” Was answered in a ‘duh’ kind of tone.

“And how could Snape know?”

“Because he is his most faithful follower. He spied for him and got The Mark for him. Heck, he killed for him.”  

Ron sighed. He knew that. There was no one else as true to the ‘Cause’ as Snape was. “And why would Master help us at all, even when he was defeated?”

“Because it will ensure Potter to be his and that stupid mudblood be dead. Her death will kill Potter inside and that’s exactly something Master would like to do… we haven’t finish our tasks.”

Ron grimaced. He was happy stealing some of Harry’s fame and popularity… and money, but those simple facts were not enough for him to be around someone that liked studying and actually learning, no, he was his friend for the only reason that he was ordered to, just as his sister was tasked with getting pregnant with the stupid Boy-Who-Lived-Twice spawn. His family, the Weasleys, were few of the Pureblood families that had participated in the Voldemort Wars against the Dark Lord simply because their Master had told them so, even when they would be happier not doing it. They had understood that their place was near Potter and that they needed to convince the boy to let himself being killed, so that the ‘Cause’ could finally be put in motion.

Leaving a scion for the Potter family in their care, along with the fortune and titles, were just the beginning of the rewards his Master had promised.

“Fine, Gin,” He finally relented to his insistent sister. “Let’s find the greasy git and ask him to deliver a letter.”

The youngest Weasley smiled diabolically. She would get to fulfill her destiny, and nobody would ever dare to cross her when she became Ms. Harry Potter.

 


	11. Chapter 11

# \- Chapter Forty-Three – The Attic

The room was almost silent, only the even breath of the ones residing in it, coupled with a little snore here and there, were heard. It was way past early morning, but there were no birds singing. The traffic sounds that were commonly heard around midday were also nonexistent. There was no world outside their little cocoon.

Or almost.

Hermione’s eyes closed tightly as a playful bean of sun decided her cheeks were a fair playground. Grunting she curled into herself as much as her limited space allowed her, hiding her face in fair blonde hair and inhaling the sweet scent of milk and mint. She smiled. She had her Luna near, all was right.

Behind her something moved and she tensed as a rough arm embraced her waist, pulling a stiff body against her back and a cold nose nudged her neck. A low whimper was heard as they found a more comfortable position and resumed their sleeping. Only when they stopped she relaxed.

Craning her neck over Luna’s head she was able to identify Draco’s back, broad and bare, with his platinum hair all tangled in cute disarray. She could see from her spot that the two blonds were flushed together, back to back, without an inch in between them, both fast asleep and barely moving.

 _‘So that’s means Hare is the one hugging me.’_ She thought smiling. It had been a rough night for all of them, mainly because Hermione had no Dreamless Tonic at hand and her nightmares had woken up the whole house at least twice, she could not really remember. She was not so sure when the boys decided to abandon the floor and climbed in bed with them, but she had found out that the more she was hugged the better she felt. The four of them were chest-bared, something that would have mortified her any other time, yet she had found out she was really happy with the skin on skin contact that made her feel loved.

It had been decided that none of them were comfortable sleeping in a bed that once belonged to her deceased grandmother or the one of her so called parents, hence the boys sleeping at the foot of her childhood bed and both of the girlfriends snuggled into the full bed. For a couple of hours all of them had sleep fairly well, until her nightmares started, at the point when they had erected silencing charms for both in and out the room. They were no interested in having the police informed of the almost murdering screams in the Granger household. It would not do for them to be found by the ‘Muggle Auror Department’ in her adoptive parents’ house

 _‘Adoptive?’_ Her mind wondered. _‘Why would they adopt me when they hated me?! Did they even adopt me?’_

“You are thinking too loud.” Hermione was crashed back down to Earth by the sleepy gruff Draco had made.

“Sorry.” She whispered softly. “Why are you two in my bed?”

Draco scoffed and gently rolled onto his other side, easily mimicking Harry and hugging the little blonde between them to his chest. “Last night you put the Banshees to shame, but when we climbed in you suddenly stopped screaming.” He murmured back. “Bloody hell, woman, what you dream of?”

The brunette smiled sadly. She put her arm over Draco’s and softly caressed the fine, almost transparent, hairs of his arm. “Of blood, death, murder, rape.” She inhaled deeply. “Of pain beyond measure and uncontrollable fear. Of kids being mutilated, women beheaded and men sodomized… and many more horrible things.”

“Mia…”

“The dreams started shortly after they left.” There was no need to clarify who ‘they’ were. “They got worse over time, that’s why McGonagall gave me the Tonics… I can’t sleep without them.”

“Yet you slept for a good long while yesterday.”

Hermione smiled. “That’s because you three are with me.” She then frowned. “That’s strange, though, I don’t enjoy sleeping with anybody other than Luna.”

Draco snorted, making the little blonde stir slightly. “Not stranger than what she’s doing.”

The brunette smirked when Luna’s nose pressed further into her skin, just in between her breasts. She could not believe how far the little blonde had come, it had been weeks since she last latched in one of her nipples. Her girlfriend was starting to lose her unorthodox ways to gain comfort and she was proud to think it was because someone was finally treating the blonde like a ‘big girl’. She did not think she could be so comfortable with her little love sucking her _and_ the two boys with them in bed. All of them were currently only wearing shorts and no shirts and, while she was really comfy, having her nipple sucked with company would be just awkward. “Nah, that’s fairly mild for us.” She was so not going to tell him about Luna’s former childish habit, but she so could let him wonder.

The blond wizard blinked once. “I really don’t want to know.” He closed his eyes again, and shifted so he would be more comfortable. “Go back to sleep, Mia, we have a long couple of days ahead of us.”

Hermione nodded as she also closed her eyes, snuggling in between Harry and Luna’s warmth. She wanted answers and she wanted them as soon as possible but knew that she needed to sleep on the matter of how to find them. So far she knew there was no other place to look for information than the very house they were currently occupying, and so it was decided just before bed the four of them would tore the house apart looking for something, anything that could shed a little light on the mystery that was her life.

XxXxX

Minerva sighed.

There was no trace of the quartet that had wormed it way into her heart. Draco, Harry, Luna and Hermione had been missing since Friday afternoon and nobody had seen them, not by the students and certainly not by the staff. The ghosts and portraits were strangely quiet about the matter, but most of them had sworn they did not know where the kids were.

She had spent last night in their sitting room, trying to catch them when they returned to sleep, but none of them showed up, worrying her more than she ever imagined possible. Narcissa and Sirius had not heard of them, but they were both sure they were somewhere safe around the castle, simply trying to be not found. This was actually pretty realistic as the castle was magical enough to have rooms never discovered by the wizarding world, which was such a great flaw in their security system, especially if added the castle annoying tendency of changing walls, rotating stairs and adjusting different rooms. The kids could be hidden away anywhere and still avoid being detected for months.

The house elves were no help at all. Sniffles had assured the Headmistress that they were in a secure location and were in no danger and were actually quiet at peace. When asked for a location the Headmistress was told that they house elves could feel their charge, in this case Hermione, alive and safe, but Sniffles could not pinpoint a location unless she was called to the young brunette. Dobby had said the same about Harry leaving the old Scot somewhat calmer but with the initial problem of not knowing where her daughter and her friends were.

No matter what they told her, she knew they were not in the castle and that worried her.

Hermione and Harry grew up in the Muggle world so it was easy for them to blend in unnoticed. Luna had spent with them four weekends so far and the Headmistress knew she was getting a lot comfortable in the world without magic. Draco was a pureblood, yes, but the boy was sly enough not to show his confusion and naivety in public, rather waiting to be by themselves to question Hermione in the Muggle ways. She knew then the four of them would easily disappear in a world where the Ministry or Hogwarts had no control over.

She was no fool. She knew the girl had been furious at them, especially at her, but Hermione was guaranteed to come back to ask questions she had no answers for and only Narcissa or herself could help her resolve. Knowing she was safe lifted a weight off her chest, yes, but that did not mean she was not worried for her baby girl. She was angry, and anger and great power not always went well hand in hand, and although she knew Hermione losing control could be disastrous, she was more worried about how that anger would affect their still shaky mother/daughter relationship.

The old witch closed her eyes. It would not matter if Hermione decided she did not want anything to do with the Headmistress, she just needed the girl safe, by her side and happy. Minerva’s own happiness did not matter as long as her baby returned.

XxXxX

“What’s this?”

Hermione looked over at the small box Luna was holding. She frowned. “That’s my old music box. It’s been broken since I can remember. I thought Grandmama threw it away.”

Draco peeked over the littlest girl’s shoulder. Something about it sparked a flame of familiarity. “You never tried to fix it?”

Hermione’s frown deepened. “I think Grandmama tried sending it to one or two specialists, but they couldn’t open it.”

The blond wizard rolled his eyes as he took the wooden box from Luna’s grasp. “I meant it magically, you dimwit cub.” He said as he twirled the box in his hand. The wood was a dark red, a shade he recognized from Hermione’s bedroom back at the castle and it was craved with intricate little knots in all the sides, all of them equally beautiful. He could barely see the fine line where the lid and the body separated and there were no hinges visible. The only thing that marked which side was the one to open was the slightly different knot that was craved at its middle. It was small compared to the music box he had seen in her mother’s bedroom, but it was definitely bigger than the one Daphne had taken to school to soothe her little sister Astoria. He guessed that the melody would be something that screamed Hermione, but, the brunette was right, there was no way of open it.

Hermione huffed. “I forgot it existed up until now, how could I think of fixing it with magic, you dumb snake?”

Draco scoffed and passed the box to the witch with a giggling Luna watching the always funny interaction between the now cousins. “Then do it.” He ordered knowing she was the only one of the four of them with enough power and knowledge to use wandless magic to fix the box as they could not use their wands. All of them were underage and therefore their wands still had a trace on them, and as wandless magic could be interpreted as ambient magic, the wards around the house would have no reason to spark to life.

The brunette sighed but did as she was told. Regarding the box in her hands she could not help but smile at it. While she could not remember the melody or even the interior of the box, she knew this one held good memories of her family. Then she frowned again. Why would a box that was sealed since she had memory bring such happy thoughts? It was not like the box was a gift or even especial, it had been always there, unworkable and soundless. Mentally she willed the wood to open itself and was highly surprised to find that the lid did not budge, it stayed firmly closed. Blinking astonished, she tried again, with more force behind her actions.

“What the-” Draco muttered. He, as Luna, saw how the tell-tale blue energy that sometimes accompanied Hermione’s wandless magic surrounded the box before being absorbed and leaving the little thing as it had before the magic exposure. Close. “Try again.”

 “No.” Hermione grunted. “I’d put the most magic I dare behind that last attempt… I use more and then the wards will trigger.”

“Why won’t it open?” Luna asked what was in the three young minds after some moment of contemplative silence.

“I don’t know.” Hermione admitted. It was the first time her magic had failed her, but then again, if the box was sealed against magic then it was probably something of her past, of Capella’s past, and could contain at least something to help them understand who she was. “But I’ll open it, that’s for sure.”

Luna nodded as Harry yelled at them from downstairs to tell them brunch was ready. The two Gryffindors were taking turns cooking and Harry, being Harry, had declared he would do their first two meals after waking up almost at midday.

They all had gotten up almost at the same time and surprisingly enough none of them had commented in their sleepwear, or rather the lack of, and they had simply dressed in their recently purchased clothes. While Harry started on their food the other three had moved to the attic to start searching for anything that could shed a light to their questions. Luna had found the music box just minutes after arriving at the low-ceiling, wide space just beneath the house roof in a trunk that highly resembled her of those they used for Hogwarts.

Now that she looked around she could see things she could easily identify, other than the cardboard boxes that littered the space, but there were several things, lamps, trunks, boxes, cases, coffins, that she could pinpoint what their magical properties were for. Maybe this attic did have the answers for their questions.

 

# Chapter Forty-Four – The Music Box

“There’s nothing more here.”

Four sighs of relief were heard at almost the same time. It was true. After spending the last couple of days searching they had finally finished looking around the whole house and they had nothing more to search. They had worked nonstop, only being interrupted with Miss Patmore and her brother’s visit and their somewhat erratic eating times, and they had being happily surprised to find some things that could help them once they decided what to do with them.

Firstly, the music box; they all knew it was at least enchanted to absorbed the magic Hermione tried to use to open it.

Secondly, her birth certificate; she was familiar with it from when she used it to complete business transactions as she was still a minor, it still read Hermione Jean Granger, but then they could see, thanks to the tricks Sirius taught them, that it was fake.

Thirdly, a school trunk with the initials B.D.B.; that was a non-wiser after Draco explained his aunt’s middle name was Druella, it was filled with several old Slytherin clothes and the odd old textbook… amazingly enough it smelt like recently lit charcoal and pine that somehow Hermione recognized as Bella’s.

Fourthly, a magical photo album; that, alongside with the trunk was the most definite prove they had, it not only showed a young Bellatrix Black messing around a gentle faced Narcissa, but it also contained five baby pictures they all could tell showed a little Hermione running amok the frame.

And fifthly, three Gringotts keys, marked ‘Vault 140’, ‘Vault 656’ and ‘Vault 241’ respectively, all of them shiny and ready to use at their nearest convenience.

So, they had come across five things that showed that Hermione was, indeed, Capella Morgen Black, what they could not find was how she came to be in the Grangers’ care.

“So…” Harry said hesitantly. “What now?”

Hermione frowned. “I don’t know.”

XxXxX

“I need to know where they are now!” Minerva McGonagall almost yelled in frustration.

“I know.” Sirius sighed. “What I don’t know is where to start looking.”

It was Monday night and none of the four escapees had showed up for breakfast. This was not so alarming, the kids could fend for themselves for another meal, but when they did not turned up for lessons the ever intellectual Minerva knew for certain they were not in the castle. Hermione would never skip class so blatantly, especially as she had had a rather difficult midterm Arithmancy test scheduled for that very same day. So the girl had not only failed half her grade for this term, but she had also made Luna miss the deadline for three papers and the boys to miss their programmed Quidditch ‘friendly’ match on Sunday evening.

Maybe those were banal things, but Hermione always made sure her friends did what they were supposed to do and she would usually feel guilty if they failed their obligations because of her.

Minerva sighed too. She did not know where to look. They could be anywhere in Britain, heck, knowing Hermione they could be anywhere in the world. “Sweet Ozma, please help us.” She mumbled tiredly as she collapsed in the armchair she was given from her daughter’s first rooms.

Sirius looked at his old Head of House, surely the woman had more resources than the rest of them. His cousin was actually floo-calling all the people that she knew in order to gauge where her runaway son was, so far Narcissa had no luck. Xeno Lovegood was contacted as soon as it was confirmed there was no Luna in the school, the eccentric man had simply asked if his daughter was with Hermione and after confirming it was the case, he had simply stated he trusted the ‘lovely Nargle’ and that he would start worrying if the kids did not showed up for the blonde’s birthday party at the Rook. That Luna’s birthday was months away did not help the other three concerned guardians at all. “Surely you have any contact with some of the girl’s friends?” He almost pleaded.

Minerva glared at him and made his blood run cold. “All her friends are in hiding with her right now, Mister Black.”

“She’s Muggle-born, well, Muggle raised, surely she has someone in that world?” They all knew they were hiding in the non-magical world, the alert that had been raised at the Auror department had confirmed exactly that only over an hour ago. After Voldemort’s demise the new Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones, had erected a nation-wide web of wards that could recognize the magical signature of the dormant wands in every magical public place. That way plazas, squares, libraries, shops and the like were always monitored to ensure they knew where people were. Sure, there still existed the odd unregistered wand, but most wizards and witches felt the most comfortable with their own wands to left them behind at home. The web so far was secret to the public, as it was still in trail phase, but it had already helped the Auror division to capture most of the runaway Death Eaters.

So, using the web, the only thing they could discover was that the kids had left via Hogsmeade and flooed to the Leaky Cauldron on Friday night. Then the trace disappeared.

At Gringotts, because he was an Auror and knew how to track people, the goblins had assured them none of them had withdrawn money from their trust vaults. Well, at least they had told them about Harry, Draco and Luna, as those three’s vaults were linked to their families’ vaults and their guardians had access to them because they were not really theirs. Hermione, on the other hand, had her vault opened by herself and, by goblin magic, she was the only one able to inquire on its affairs. They doubted they had gone to Gringotts, though, because the goblins were at least gracious enough to let them know no ‘stupid, silly little witches and wizards had come in here since long school break’. Apparently the Wizarding Bank was only popular among the youngsters around summer holidays.

Sirius’ question sparked a flame of inspiration in the old Headmistress, only for it to be dashed away quickly. “She has H.G. and Myka. I know the latter is an American witch that actually blossomed in the Muggle world serving her President while the other is a highly amusing brat that loves to make her partner blush, or at least those are the things Hermione told me. Those are the only ones I know of that she still talks to, however, I never asked for a way to contact them nor do I have a way to find them. I also have no idea where her businesses are or even if they or Neenie had a Muggle address.”

The tired Auror could not believe what his ears were telling him. Did Minerva McGonagall have not thought of having a way to contact her daughter’s Muggle life? “Didn’t you ask her to give you her Muggle information when you adopted her?” He asked amazed.

The Headmistress actually blushed. “The A.C.D. doesn’t care about the Muggle part of the Muggle-born wizards, so that information was not required for her adoption. It also escaped my mind to ask her several things, including exactly that information.” She admitted to a fatal error in her always organized life. She had known of Myka and H.G. ever since the girl’s third year… how was it that she never asked for more than she was given? Why did not she ask for a way to contact them if something happened to Hermione?

 _‘Probably because you never thought of having needing it.’_ Her mind answered her. _‘You didn’t even think that your girl owned and managed at some extent several businesses. Hell, the kids didn’t even need to go to Gringotts for money, Hermione surely has her own saved in any Muggle one.’_

Sirius shook his head sadly. Minerva had overlooked something extremely important when she adopted the girl, she had not dug in the girl’s previous life deep enough to ensure the girl did not have at least emotional scars around. After Minerva had told him of her suspicions, and after Luna’s attack was finally resolved, the old Headmistress had confided in him the reasons why Hermione was with her. He could understand not knowing everything of one’s charge, but he had made it his task to find out everything he could on Harry and his life before Voldemort’s defeat.

So he may lack some information, information private for his boy, but by the looks of it, Minerva did not even bothered asking about Hermione’s past. Then again, by the way the girl deceived the school, Ministry _and_ Headmistress for years, he could understand how Minerva lacked information.

“What about old whereabouts? Surely the girl has somewhere she frequented?” He really doubted they had gone somewhere the other three suggested, mainly because they had already checked all the possible locations they knew of and he highly doubted Harry would lead them to the only place they did not bother to check: Privet Drive.

“I’d already told you I don’t know anything about her business and I doubt she went back to her Muggle school mates. She has no family, that’s why I adopted her, so they don’t have a relative to bother. She only had her grandmoth-” She stopped mid word, an incredulous look on her face. “How could I’d be so stupid!? Of course, her grandmother’s house!”

A bemused Auror watched as how the old witch actually face-palmed. “Huh?”

“Hermione inherited her grandmother’s house, the one she grew up in, the one _I_ visited when I delivered her letter. She owes it and I know for a fact she hadn’t empty it and I was so stupid for having missed it! Of course they are there! What other place to look for information regarding her life than the place that saw her first years?!”

Sirius snorted amused. Now knowing there might be a place where the kids could be had lifted the pressure off his chest and he was now ready to kid around again. “Come on, Minerva, let’s go there before your old age manage makes you forget where this house is.”

The Headmistress was going to berate the man on his poorly timed joke when she realized that yes, her old age had managed to make her forget the house’s address.

XxXxX

They all lay intertwined in bed. Just like the couple of nights before the two girls were in the middle of their rather strange cocoon, with Harry behind Hermione and Draco behind Luna. After their first night in the house and the surprising lack of embarrassment from all the present in the morning, they had decided to save space and body heat by cuddling all together again. Not to mention that it was the most perfect way they had at hand to stop Hermione screaming like tortured in her sleep, even if the scene would be bizarre for anyone that dare to walk on them. Four teenagers bare-chested and touching several inches of skin was not a sight they wanted their guardians to see.

It was then a chain reaction when Draco shot upright, waking up the rest of the bed in an instant.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked alarmed. There were no screams, no dust, no one in the room with them, Draco had simply woken up in a fright.

“I know how to open the box.” He said as he rushed from the bed, leaving three bewilder teenagers behind.

Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he reached for the glass of water at the bed side table. “It’s too early for this.” He grumbled as he cuddled back in bed.

Luna yawned and stretched. Now that they knew there was no danger the three of them were more partial to lay again and resume their sleep from where they left it. Hermione, no matter what kind of peril they could have been in, just resembled the Inferi she always transformed in when woken at such unholy hour. The blonde witch simply giggled at her girlfriend before dragging her back in between Harry and herself, knowing the girl simply sprang to ‘life’ because they had done so, in reality her brain had not really start working yet.

“Hey, wake up!” Draco yelled as he barreled in the room carrying the box that had recently caused so much trouble. “I know how to open this!”

Hermione rolled on her stomach, falling halfway over Luna and effectively trapping her beneath her and ending any conversation, or so she hoped. Harry snorted. He had been surprised to find out how much trouble it was to wake the brunette up, something he had never imagined when she had been the first to wake when they were still leaving at Gryffindor House. “Let her sleep, mate, she’s dead to the world right now.”

Luna giggled again. “She’s awake, but just barely.” She looked at the tall blond that stood at the foot of the bed in only his boxers and with his hair all tussled. “How do we open the box?”

Draco climbed on the bed again and sitting on his knees, towered over the two witches. “Turn her over, Luna.”

“No.” Came the muffled response from the tired female Gryffindor.

The Slytherin sniggered and slap Hermione’s ass prompting an indignant yelp of pain, yet she did not move. Luna continued giggling and after a couple of seconds she obeyed him without regard of what Hermione wanted. Now that the scowling girl, that scarily resembled her adopter mother with the stare she was shooting him, was face up, Draco saw the chain and pendant that were a constant on the brunette’s chest. He had noticed it before, several times in fact, when she was playing with it while reading a book or doing her papers, however he had not seen it up close until they shared the bed that first night.

He knew why the music box was familiar to him now. The knotted pattern that adorned the box was the same one of the pendant his friend wore. “Where do you get that pendant from?” He asked without preamble.

“Dunno.” Hermione muttered. “Ha’ it sin’ I ‘ttle.”

Harry and Draco blinked owlishly at the infantile response while Luna cracked up. “So you don’t remember when you got it?” She asked between laughs.

“Nope.”

Draco simply shook his head and smiled at the zombie lying in bed. “So you never realized you are wearing the key to the box?”

“Uh?” Hermione actually woken up at that, surprising the daylight of the three of them when she actually sat totally focused on the task at hand. “Lemme see.” She asked promptly as she finally understood what the blond was saying.

Hermione practically snatched the box from his friend’s grasp and started looking at it with new eyes. Draco was right, it was the same pattern and, if she was not mistaken, the knot on one of its sides was exactly wide enough to fit her pendant. They had now a way to open it… now she just needed to courage to actually do it.

 

# Chapter Forty-Five – Good Night My Angel

With shaky hands she took the small circular piece of silver and inserted it in the small slot, prompting the lid to pop open and a melody that instantly captured her to start playing.

XxXxX

 _“Goodnight, my angel,_  
Time to close your eyes,  
And save these questions for another day,”

_All was dark, yet she knew she was safe. This song was one she knew by heart even if she had forgotten it until now. It was her song, her lullaby._

_“I think I know what you've been asking me,_  
I think you know what I've been trying to say,  
I promised I would never leave you.”

_She opened her eyes and almost gasped at what she saw, yet, her body was filled with such safety and peace that she simply smiled. She knew her, she knew where she was and she was totally content with that._

_“And you should always know,  
I never will be far away,”_

_Tight arms held her with a care she had never known before. Her head was nestled in between one really soft forearm and a rather comfy breast. She sighed; she knew that was_ her _breast and hers alone. And she could always ask to play with it once_ he _was gone._

 _“Goodnight, my angel,_  
Now it's time to sleep,  
And still so many things I want to say,”

_The sweet singing voice made its way to her ears as it soothed her to a deep calm. The vibrations she felt at the side of her face, where her cheek was resting against that comfy breast, appeasing her and prompting her to succumb to Morpheus’ Land._

_“Remember all the songs you sang for me,_  
When we went sailing on an emerald bay,  
And like a boat out on the ocean,”

_No, she thought, she wanted to savor this moment, to chisel it in her memory. She studied the woman that was looking down at her. She was beautiful, her chestnut ringlet hair blowing slightly as she was rocked around the room._

_“I'm rocking you to sleep,_  
The water's dark and deep,  
Inside this ancient heart,”

_Her eyes were a deep black, deeper and darker than night itself, but they were shining with love and happiness. The woman’s nose was a cute little button, a nose she always saw when looking at the mirror. Her skin was pale, as if the sun had never kissed it, so different from her own tanned one._

_“You'll always be a part of me_  
Goodnight, my angel,  
Now it's time to dream,”

_Closing her eyes, she savored the gentle up and down she was in. Her frame was totally relaxed along the arms that were cradling her. She raised a hand and fisted the silvery pendant that hung loosely between the woman’s breasts, the pendant she knew was the key to her music box, the box that was playing softly in the room while the woman sang the lyrics to her song._

_“And dream how wonderful your life will be,_  
Someday your child may cry,  
And if you sing this lullaby,”

_She peered again up to her and felt her heart soar. The smile on the woman face was lovely, totally different from the sneer she had seen in the old photographs the Prophet showed when Voldemort died, the photos of all the Death Eaters that had served under his command and had been defeated. Even when she died rotting in Azkaban, she had died as Voldemort’s second in command._

_“Then in your heart,  
There will always be a part of me.”_

_This woman was one she never believe capable of caring, capable of feeling something other than hate and disdain. But there was no doubt here, this crazed woman, this strange creature, was looking down at her with such longing and love that she could do nothing but cry._

_“Why are you crying, my sweet Ella?” Bellatrix asked when she burst into tears._

_“Mama!” She cried in a high pitched voice, spitting out the little mauve pacifier she had been sucking. “Mama dead!” She wanted to scream that she was crying because this woman was gone. She had died for a cause not worthy and had left her behind, in the arms of a family that never loved her and with no means to know she had been wanted once. But she was in a memory, in a toddler body and with no means to control what was happening._

_Bellatrix smiled sadly. “Maybe my little one, maybe one day soon I’ll be gone.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead as she slid her pacifier in between her lips. “But I’ll always watch over you, I’ll never leave you.”_

_And, somehow, Hermione believed her._

XxXxX

“Neenie. Neenie. Neenie!”

Hermione return to Earth and wasted no time in doing as her little self and bursting into tears. “I remember her. Oh, God, I remember her!” She cried as she launched onto her concerned girlfriend’s arms. It had only taken one melody, but she now remembered. She remembered what was like living with her parents.

“Mia…” Draco murmured sadly. Hermione’s everyday version of crying was usually quiet and in a way calming, it took great emotional pain for the girl to be reduced to a sobbing wreck.

“I- I saw her- holding me, sin-singing to me.” She almost wailed, shaking in the little blonde’s arms. It was no surprise when she found herself being engulfed by two other pair of arms. “Oh, God, she loved me, she r-really loved me and she died before I turned two!”

Her three friends shared a quiet disturbed look. They were aware not loving Hermione was a sin, her adoptive parents the worst sinners that ever were, so hearing that Bellatrix Lestrange, Death Eater extraordinaire, actually loved her was not a shock. The shock came when they realized their friend was mourning for a woman she never met and that up until a few days prior all of them considered evil incarnated.

Bellatrix had killed many, had tortured the Longbottoms, had made life miserable for Tonks when she was a child… Bellatrix was not a liked person. But now their very foundation had been shaken. The most hated woman, the most crazed one, had loved their Hermione, _her_ Capella, and that made her a human being. That made her someone they ought to honor, or at least, respect. That made them realize this was no game of placing blames, their beliefs had just been tested.

It was now painfully real that Hermione was Capella Morgen Black. Daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange. Daughter of Voldemort.

“I’m so, so, sorry!” The brunette’s cry wrecked their hearts. That was no apology for weeping. Nor was an apology for the mess she was doing all over Luna’s developing chest, no, that was an act of forgiveness for the crime she just committed. All of them understood it perfectly. There was no easy way out of this and all the four of them knew it.

Hermione remembered.

She remembered her mother and father.

She remembered the love they professed her.

But, worst of all, she remembered how much she loved them.

XxXxX

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

Narcissa sighed. How was it possible for the most feared Teacher, in a good way, not having any way to contact her daughter’s friends or even the address of her former house? “What now?”

Sirius mimicked his cousin and sighed while throwing himself to an armchair in Malfoy manor. “I don’t know.”

“These Myka and H.G. characters… is there no way to find them?”

The Auror shook his head. “We have no last names, and in H.G. case not even a first one.” He sighed. “From what I gather they are both magical, and one of them is American.”

Narcissa nodded. “I’ll ask around then, an American witch is uncommon enough around here, especially if she deals with Muggle business.”

Sirius hummed in agreement. They really had nothing to do but wait.

It was pure torture.

XxXxX

Hermione opened her eyes and instantly winced. Sunlight poured over them and it was pure torture on the brunette’s battered eyes. She groaned. Every day she hated the sun a little bit more.

“Slept well?” A caring voice called to her and managed to make her smile.

“Not really. You?”

“Luna kicks. A lot.”

Hermione snorted. The little blonde had been a real nightmare and, as always when sick, she transformed into a soccer player. After the brunette had cried her fill they had managed to convince the nearby Indian food joint to deliver them a late night delicacy to help them digest the news and the new memories Hermione had sprouted after hearing the lullaby. Apparently little girls and curry were not a good match and Luna had spent most of the early morning throwing up and running a slight fever. It went unsaid that the older witch had not sleep a wink until the little blonde had finally settled. Harry had made a poor Gryffindor and had fled the bed by the fourth time the ex-Claw had run to the toilet and had claimed a spot in the floor near the room’s window, out of the way but still close enough to help if absolutely needed.

Draco, on the other hand, had stayed on the bed and tried to console the little girl with wet towels that Hermione kept cool as the brunette rubbed her stomach to help with the pain. They had searched for some Muggle medicine in the house as they had no potions near but all they had found was already expired or was not recommended for kids as small as Luna.

It was nice that Hermione had not been the sole recipient of the littlest blonde’s kicks, though.

“Yes she does.” She replied to Draco’s dry grumble as she looked down to the still sleeping girl in between them. Luna was thankfully still sleeping with her nose pressed onto her chest but not sucking anything, just calmly resting. “It was a rough night.” She commented unnecessarily as she combed her fingers through the little girl’s hair.

It was Draco’s turn to scoff. “Remember me to never do this again.” He yawned as he stretched his arms and legs still lying on the bed.

Hermione giggled. “You’ll do it someday. Once you have a girlfriend… or a child.”

“Nah. If I have a girlfriend she’ll fend for herself and if I have a kid the mother can do it.”

“You won’t do that.” A barely understandable voice interrupted the brunette’s giggling at that comment, making both Hermione and Draco look down in between them to see a pale blue eye peeking at them.

“Why would you say that?” The blond wizard murmured, truly intrigued.

Luna simply turned over and cuddled onto the tall wizard’s chest, pretty much the same way she did with Hermione. “Because you are good. You care.” She murmured half-awake as she embraced him by the waist, settling to keep sleeping her sickness away.

Draco blinked back tears. He was not good yet this girl, a girl that never lied was telling him he was good. Maybe he was finally done paying for being a prat in his first years of school. Maybe he was, indeed, different from his father. With a shuddering breath he gathered the girl to him and hugged her like one would do with a well-loved teddy bear before the silent tears started falling down and got absorbed in the long flaxen hair.

Hermione simply smiled sadly. She may have lost two set of parents and was in process of probably loosing another mother, but this was now her family. Luna, Draco and Harry were now her anchors, her brothers and lover, her best friends and heart. They were the ones that would ever be there for her. She knew they were unconditional and would move mountains to help her.

Just as she would help them. And love them. Always.

Knowing the two blonds would be fine by themselves, one sleeping away her tiredness and the other crying away his fears, she slid out of bed and started searching for his little brother. As soon as she opened the door to the room the smell of bacon and coffee assaulted her. At least she knew where to find Harry.

“Good afternoon, sleepyhead.” Harry singsong voice greeted her as she entered the kitchen.

“You’re awfully cheery.” Hermione muttered as she poured herself a cup of coffee that was gratefully fresh. It looked that Harry knew they would need lots and lots of caffeine after such a long night and had made sure they have good coffee at hand for that. “Oh, sweet Ozma, this is amazing.” She sighed after the first sip.

Harry smiled at his friend before frowning slightly. “Sorry I didn’t help you with Luna… sick people gross me out…”

The brunette hummed. “Don’t worry about that, we know you.” She took another sip of coffee. “Besides, we needed someone relatively best rested to keep guard around here.”

Harry snorted. “Yeah, you do. Miss Patmore came over two hours ago and stayed for tea. Had to tell her you three ate spoiled food and were currently sleeping. I barely managed to stop her from rushing upstairs to check on you.”

Hermione drank the last of her coffee in a big gulp before refilling her mug. “Thanks for that.” She sighed. “That just bought us two more days around here, then.”

The boy nodded and served the bacon and eggs he had had stored on the warming drawer the magnificent cooker had… if only Petunia had had one of those, the things he could had done… “So… are we staying two more days?”

The brunette accepted the plate she was served with a small ‘thank you’. She munched on her food for a couple of minutes before finally answering. “I don’t know.” She confessed. “I don’t think there’s much to do here and as much as it hurts me to admit it, only Minerva or Draco’s mom could help me now to answer all the questions I have.” She continued around a bite of scrambled eggs.

“You didn’t see the letter, then?” Harry asked, knowing full well the answer of his question but not knowing how to approach that particular subject.

“Letter? What letter?”

The Gryffindor wizards sighed and took a small envelope from his back pocket. “This was inside the music box… I saw it when I got up this morning.”

Hermione took it reverently with shaking hands, her breakfast/lunch practically forgotten. “Wha-?” She looked to her friend with pleading eyes. “You read it?”

“No.” Harry shook his head. “Is yours, I have no right to do so.”

The witch gulped and noticed that yes, the letter was addressed to her:

 _Hermione Jean Granger_  
Cappella Morgen Black  
My heart outside my body  
My little love  
My precious Ella

 

# Chapter Forty-Six – The Letter

“Are you sure, Severus? Has she been found?”

The greasy Potion Master nodded. “Yes, Master. I believe she’s her.”

The great wizard sighed. This complicated things. “And the Headmistress was the one to pursue this information, correct?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Maybe not teaching the Namae Suiyaku was not such a good idea, my boy. We would be able to know sooner of this… nuisance.” He fidgeted in his comfortable arm chair. “I believe your tenure at Hogwarts is over, Severus. I need you by my side right now and I’m sure you couldn’t possibly gather more information right now on this matter. Or any, really.”

Snape nodded again. “McGonagall is pretty secretive now. The usual staff meetings actually only involve school matters, there’re no politics mentioned, nothing concerning the Minister and absolutely nothing regarding Harry Potter or the Dark Lord.”

“Is such a shame.” His Master mussed. “Should meetings had stayed the same as they were before we’d have much more information regarding the state of things in the Ministry. Only McGonagall would actually start managing the school as such.”

The Potion Master scoffed. “She had raised the standards for OWL’s and NEWT’s scores, the kids are now asked more and are tested more harshly. I believe that in a few years the academic level the school has could surpass that of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.” He shook his head. “That’s just wrong.”

The powerful wizard got up from his seat and walked to his familial, gently stroking its head. “I went to great lengths so that the English children would be behind in all the subjects, making all of them more susceptible to my influence. Stupid McGonagall, she’s ruining everything!” He bellowed, making both the animal and servant cringe. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

“Master, you do have some generations totally ruined.” Snape said hesitantly, not sure if he was angering his Master more. “Those are enough to back you up…”

The Master sighed. “No, Severus, no. The only way I could gain their trust is to kill a new threat. A new evil.” He smiled. “Maybe this turn of events could be to our advantage, my boy, maybe it’s time to introduce a new Dark Lady.” 

XxXxX

_My dearest Ella,_

_Hello, little love, how I miss you. I reckon you have many questions and I’ll try my best to answer some of them._

_You are, indeed, the daughter of Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. The how’s are unimportant but know that I loved your father and we both love you. We love you without measure and we will love you until our last breath._

_Congratulations are in order, little one. You just turned eleven, such any important age. You are now allowed your own wand and you are off to one of the best schools of witchcraft in Europe: Durmstrang Institute.  I know you should have revived your Hogwarts acceptance letter by now, but know, little love, that you can’t attend that school. It’s too dangerous for you._

_Miss Newton, that’s your grandmother’s real name, should have explained to you everything by now. You are the Black’s family heir and as such you cannot be near Albus Dumbledore unprotected. I did everything in my power to make sure you don’t show on their records as he is a dangerous, manipulative wizard that is only looking out for his own gain and have no qualms in sacrificing innocent people for his ‘Grater Good’. You father may be evil, love, but at least he is honest and constant about it, that old goat is not. Never seek him and never trust him, his ways are too similar to your father’s. Killing and maiming is not the way to go… I learnt that lesson too late and it cost me everything I hold dear: you._

_I’m sorry you are not attending Hogwarts, little one. I’m sure you’ll be sorted into Slytherin as both your father and I am proud snakes and both he and I were Head Boy and Girl in our respective times. I’m sure you’ll be the perfect Slytherin Princess. How I wish I could be able to see you in our green and silver colors. You have your father eyes, before he succumbed to the Dark Magic, and my wild hair and I’m sure that mix would only make the snake in your uniform stand out. But as I said, you are not attending Hogwarts, you will never put a foot in that castle._

_But you and your cousin, Draco, will be attending Durmstrang and will make me and your aunt Cissy so proud. Yes, my Ella, you have a cousin and an aunt, they are Narcissa and Draco Malfoy. Miss Newton should have already alerted them that you are alive already, I left her with your birth ring and that should be enough proof… and I’m sure Cissy will be able to see myself in you, she was always observant that way._

_I’m sorry, my precious Ella, the crimes we’ve committed had made it impossible for your father and me to be around. He is dead, as you should know, and I’m off to Azkaban. I’m sorry you have to carry the shame of us being your parents. I tried to ‘make’ you ones that could love you and care for you, but my magic is not strong enough. I only managed to create a charming young couple able to function fine in the Muggle world and care for you in the more basic ways, any mistake I made, any little thing I couldn’t do, Miss Newton was to fix it with your magic and hers. I’m so sorry about that, me not being able to make you parents that can actually feel, had I not used so much magic changing your name on the Ministry records maybe I would have been able to give you the love you deserve, if not by my own heart, at least through theirs._

_There’s nothing I can do now about that, now, can I?_

_Do you like your name? I’ve always liked Hermione, is romantic and beautiful. Although Hermione Capella Black is a mouthful, I really liked it for you, but your father had the last word, as always. Your real name, my love, is Capella Morgen Black as you should now know. You bore the name of one of the brightest starts, which represent honor and wealth; the real name of the greatest witch in history, capable of changing time and weather, while cursed, it wields strength; and the name of the purest wizard family ever, the oldest, the wealthier, and the most powerful. Trade your name with respect, love, it deserves it._

_Please keep going calling yourself Hermione Granger, because even when your name should be bear with great honor, it would raise many questions that should go unanswered._

_But enough about names, my love, have your grandmother teach you the ways of the Blacks? I’m sure she’d have, she was the one to teach your Aunt Cissy everything she knows. I know you’d take care of the family’s business and investments once Miss Newton decides you are ready._

_I’m so sorry my dearest Ella, I need to cut this letter short. I have no much more time before I have to go back with the news that you are gone. I had to kill you in the eyes of the family that saw you born and they’ll hate me for that. I’m sorry I had to take you away from the place you are loved the most. I’m so sorry you had to have such awful parents. I have so many regrets and I only hope that you grow to be a beautiful woman, both inside and outside. The world requires many witches like you, powerful and with a noble heart, which I can already see even at the tender age you have as I’m writing this letter._

_I love you, my girl. Know that my heart will always beat for you and my mind will forever think of you._

_I love you, I love you, I love you, my little heart, my little love, my most precious Ella._

_Your Mama, Bellatrix Black._

XxXxX

Silence stretched for several minutes, none of them knowing what to say. None of them knowing if they had their questions answered or just managed to gather more enigmas. The letter told them at least who were her ‘parents’ but…

“It is possible to create humans from thin air?” Luna was the one to ask the question in everybody’s mind.

“Apparently so.” Draco muttered. He had been shocked when Luna and he had gone downstairs to eat a late, really late, lunch to find a pacing Hermione and a nervous Harry. The brunette had refused to read the letter Bellatrix had left her until the four of them had eaten and were prepared to hear what it said. The Gryffindor witch had needed her friends and they were more than happy to be there for her. “Maybe it was dark magic, you can do almost anything with dark magic.” He mused.

“Maybe.” Hermione conceded somewhat absentmindedly. That letter gave her mixed feelings. “I guess is good to know it wasn’t me, right?” She murmured to herself but was perfectly heard by her three companions.

“What?” Harry spoke for the first time. “What do you mean?”

The brunette blinked and her lost eyes focused again, returning to the conversation they were having. “What did I mean what?”

Luna smiled softly and a little sadly. “Neenie always thought she was not loved for who she was.” She motioned for the letter the older witch was still holding in her shaking hands. “That showed her that it was not her fault, the people who raised her were simply not capable of love. She was perfectly fine,” She smiled. “She still is.”

Hermione returned the little smile. It did help her breath easier to know that she was not the cause her ‘parents’ never loved her, and knowing her ‘Grandmama’ was also not related to her and was actually Draco’s mom’s governess helped her understand why she felt like she was just a tutor more… she really had been one tutor more. “How is that you know me so well?” She asked gratefully. The little blonde was able to put into words what she was feeling, something she herself could not do.

“That’s my job, silly.” Luna grinned before receiving a deep kiss for her efforts.

Draco and Harry snorted at the cheekiness of the little witch, knowing full well she was right. It did make their lives less difficult, having someone well versed in ‘Hermioness’. They highly doubted the three of them could accomplish half the interactions they had without someone who could actually understand Mia… not even the brunette knew what she was feeling half the time and trying to show two clueless boys was just a lost cause.

“Anybody feel like returning to bed?” Hermione asked after a minute of intense lip-locking.

“Gross, Mia!” Harry yelled abashed, his face white and eyes wide.

“I love you, woman, but I’m so not going to bed with you!” Draco declared, his face state no so dissimilar to Harry’s. “You’re my cousin for Merlin’s sake!”

Hermione paled and got a little green around the edges. “God, no! I was simply saying I’m tired and wanted to sleep!”

Luna laughed merrily; making the other three reddened as much as a Weasley when angry. Her laugh only got more loudly when she was the recipient of three not so amused glares. “Oh, come on!” She said between guffaws. “It was funny!”

“She’s sleeping in the floor.” Harry deadpanned and Draco and Hermione nodded promptly.

“What?!” The little blonde asked, not quite able to control her laughing yet.

Instead of answering the other three simply got up from their places at the table and exited the kitchen, fully intending to nap the evening away… no matter how much they had slept in, they were all still tired after Luna’s sickened night and the letter’s news, making the girl in question simply laugh harder.

She stayed in the kitchen, calming down so that she would not be kicked out the bed as soon as she approached Hermione’s old room. It was good to see the brunette calmer and, if she dared to say so, happier. Admitting that, that Hermione was happier now hurt her a little; it meant that she had not been happy before, with just her. But she could understand the why, somehow.

The older witch had grown up deprived of any kind of love and affection, making her wonder how was it possible for her been even born. She had been raised with knowledge and manipulation as the primary assets she had to have to survive and that was fine with her until she entered Hogwarts. Starting magical school had not only opened her eyes to what she had been missing out, but it had also made her start doubting herself. Hermione had confessed more than once that she had not even thought she was that different until she heard Parvati and Lavender talking about the family they were missing… Hermione had no one to miss and, while she had seen other kids being showed the affection she was not been given, up until that moment she had not understood exactly how unloved she was.

Sure it had hurt her not having kisses and hugs when other kids did, but she had accepted it as a fact, that she was simply not worth them. She then had strived to prove herself to her parents and Grandmama so, maybe, they could tell her how much she really matter to them. They never cared. It hurt, but she had accepted it. It was easier before Hogwarts, when she had practically no contact with people her age, when she was not flaunted in the face what a normal family was and how unfeeling hers was.

Luna smiled. Hermione was a really private person, but she always opened up to her. Ever since that day at the beginning of the term when Minerva had walked on their conversation, long before Harry started being part of their lives, the other witch had started talking more about her life before magic, about her so called family and the mixed feelings she had for them. It was not that Luna could ‘read’ Hermione, like she was sure Harry and Draco thought, but it was more like she had spent hours listening to the older girl and she could connect the dots her tales gave her.

She snorted. Hermione often complained that Harry and Draco had the emotional range of a teaspoon when she was no better. The brunette may be able to understand what the others were feeling, but when it came to her own emotions, she was as useless as they were.

Knowing she was as calmer as she could get, she gathered the plates that had been left on the table and piled them in the sink. She would get Hermione to mafic them clean later. She hummed to herself happily, knowing her loved one was at last at ease with her situation and that she could move on, finally.

Her happy disposition ended, however when she reached the bedroom’s door and found it locked form the inside. “Oh, come on!” She yelled and was not really surprised when nobody answered and the doorknob kept jostling without giving in. “I’m sleepy too!” She whined pitifully as she rested all her weight on the dark wood. Did they not remember she had been the sick one?

The door clicked open, letting her fall face first on the soft carpet and prompting a little ‘eep’ of surprise from her lips.

“Come here, love.” Hermione’s merrily whispered to her from between the two fast-asleep boys. “I can’t sleep without my teddy bear.”

Luna huffed but scrambled to her feet and, after tossing her shirt aside, practically dived in between Hermione and Draco, cuddling closer to her girlfriend with a content smile and waking the two wizards that up until then had managed to stay oblivious to the girl’s playing.

“Urg, Luna!” Harry whined as he turned so his back was to them and curling into his side, fully intent to sleep no matter what the rest of them did.

Draco laughed. “Move, girl, your elbow is pocking me.” He accommodated again, this time leaving the little witch a bit of more space. “Do you wonder if all this sleep is healthy?” He mussed intrigued.

Hermione snorted. “Enjoy it while you can, Drake, once we go back we’ll be so swamped in detentions we’ll barely sleep.”

The Slytherin wizard sighed. “Mother will punish me into next year, I’m sure.” He then chuckled. “McGonogall is so going to tan your ass for this.”

“No, she’s not.” Her hard tone made even the sleepy Harry tense. “She lost that right the moment she lied to me.”

“Neenie yo-” Luna started speaking when she was interrupted by the somber older witch.

“Let’s sleep.” After a moment of utter silence, she added in a small voice. “Please.”

Nobody said anything to that. They knew they were going back to Hogwarts soon. Their Hermione needed more answers that the house had provided them and they knew only the Headmistress or Draco’s mother had them.

 

# Chapter Forty-Seven – The Art of Odors

She inhaled deeply, savoring the smells she had come to relate to her family. A milky, creamy one, with a tint of mint. Luna. A deep, rich one, similar to leather with a musky undertone. Draco. A fresh one, wood blended with something that screamed to her ‘sky’. Harry.

She smiled. That was something that had marveled her about the magical world. The smells. Everything and everyone smelled different and had a unique _something_ that made them, them. The potions all have their smell, even if it only changed slightly from one to other. Most books had their own one too, even if she could never remember all of them, she could detect the differences between them. Amazingly enough, spells also had their smells, although they showed when interacting with something or someone. Curses and hexes tended to be stronger, fouler, making the recipient of them stink just a little. Charms, the great majority of them, tinged the charmed with sweet and gentle trace. And transfigurations, those were the most complex of all, to take the original smell and change it to more or less accommodate the new one often made for strange odors, sometimes good ones, sometimes bad ones.

She had though this was something all wizards and witches did, but was really surprised to discover that it was not. It now made sense why they looked at her like she was crazy when she used to close her eyes and savor the smells in class back in first year. At first she thought it was rude to enjoy the smells so blatantly, and who she was to question the wizarding ways? She stopped a couple of weeks before she turned friends with Harry and Ronald, and she had not made a clown of herself ever since… until she met Luna.

Strangely enough it had been Mister Lovegood the one to detect her sense of smell. Her eye-opener had happened on her last visit to the Rook when Xeno and a colleague were experimenting with different kinds of transfiguration spells. She had arrived fully intent to spend the day talking away with Luna and possibly learning a little more about the bullying she was recipient of before going back to school when catastrophe happened. They had been talking happily until a particular misshaped spell had hit the wrong vial and the house had been inundated with the worst scent she had ever smelt. It had been so strong her eyes almost watered… Luna’s did.

The two girls then had raced down stairs to confront the two crazy wizards on why on Earth they were trying to kill them. It had shocked Hermione to find that Master Montgomery, Xeno’s friend and fellow ‘inventor’, simply shaking his head at the mess the spell had made, with no signs of detecting the almost rotten smell. The two Lovegoods and Hermione were a different story, though. Xeno had immediately retrieved a couple of mouth mask, exactly similar as the one he had been wearing, that later were explained to the brunette were specially designed to prevent even the smallest of the smells reaching their noses. Hermione had been so grateful to receive one of them that for a second she had forgotten her shock at the nonchalantly attitude the other wizard in the room had. So, Hermione, being Hermione, had to ask how the smell did not affect him.

It was then when Xeno explained to her that the smells she perceived were intimately linked with the magic all around them. All wizards and witches smelt them, but the vast majority of them had gone so used to them that they no longer perceived them as the true essence of magic they represent. Purebloods and half-bloods were usually the one most able to identify them, but no matter how keen their smell were, they simply forgot how to do it and the ones raised in the Muggle world, because they simply could not smell them too strongly, got their noses numbed a couple of days after they first glimpsed the magical world.

Some smells were more potent than others. Potions and curses were the strongest, their own nature making them simply too strong to be missed. Many could not really pinpoint the differences between them, sure, but all knew that a harmful potion smelt more rotten than a healing one, just like the Killing Curse often left behind a smell of death and destruction.

There were few the wizards and witches that cultivated the Art of Odors, as it had been called by Xeno, the Lovegoods being one of the three British families that still taught their kids to identify magic by the aroma in the air. It was fairly simple, she had been told, you only needed to acknowledge that there were indeed smells in the air and then try to compare them with things you already knew, he had explained. The trick was, not to forget they were there, Xeno warned her, because if you did, the ability would quickly fade and then no matter how hard you tried, the air would smell as clean as it was in any only-Muggle location.

So what started like a guilty pleasure for Hermione had transformed an ability rare for most British magicals. Something she loved and something she was glad to have. She inhaled again. Smells were wonderful, yes, and they were the indicators of many things.

Just like the scents of burned wax, melted caramel, Boldo tea and sour butter alerted her that there was something extremely wrong. That those smells were soon followed by the crisp one of a really powerful stunner only made things worse.

Opening her eyes she saw terrified how the red beam hit the slowly awakening Luna. Shooting upright she only managed to saw her own red beam rushing to her chest for an instant before her world was surrounded in darkness.

XxXxX

He looked out the window yet again. Even when he had been raised in one of the most ancient houses there were, he could still marvel at the things magic could do. Being floors underground and still have daylight pour from the windows, not to mention what could be considered a penthouse view of London, was just amazing. It was a luxury he had missed for almost twelve years and he planned to make the best out of it.

It would be better, though, if the constant feeling of dread and worry would leave him alone, though.

“Hey, cousin!” A voice called to him. It was voice that was usually cheerful and full of energy, but now it sounded concerned.

“Tonks,” Sirius turned to see the young Auror running to him. “What’s the matter?”

“We have a problem.” She told him panting. “There was a source of really potent magic in one Muggle-born house. As it’s school time and it is a Muggle home, a couple of Auros were sent to investigate. They found this.” She presented to him a black cloth bag that obviously contained something long and delicate, if the way she was holding it was any indication.

Sirius grabbed the bag and instantly knew what it was inside. Opening it he felt his chest constrict as he immediately recognized two of the four wands stored in it. “These are Harry’s and Draco’s.” He said in a soft breath.

“And according to the records, the other two are Miss McGonagall and Miss Lovegood.” She sighed. “Shacklebolt says that there were clear signs the kids had been living there for at least a couple of days, but they were nowhere to be found. The wands showed none of them had been used in a long time, which leave us to believe somebody else casted the spells that triggered the wards. There were no signs of struggle, but it was detected that there were stunners casted…”

“Somebody took them.” It was not a question, it was a statement.

“We believe so, yes.”

Sirius cursed under his breath. He was a Senior Auror, though, so he had things to do and one of those was to find his nephew and godson, along with their two friends. “Have you notified Headmistress McGonagall and Mister Lovegood?”

Tonks fidgeted for a moment. “Xeno Lovegood has been at the front desk for the last three hours, he has been demanding to see someone saying he needed to tell someone about his daughter… nobody heard him, until now. He’s speaking with Johnson right now.”

“And Minerva?”

“We were hoping you’d take care of that.”

He sighed. Of course they did. “Well then, lead the search party to that house then, and go from there.” He ordered his cousin as he got up to head to the floo network. He was so not wanting to give Minerva this news.

XxXxX

“It’s not possible! How can they stay in that house that long! How is that none of us knew?! Sirius, where are they?! Where is my baby?!”

It had taken just five minutes for Sirius to relay the message to Minerva, it had also taken five minutes to have the older woman in full panic-attack mode. He had to remember his training and the part that dealt with distraught parents. “Calm down, Minerva, we’ll find them sooner rather than later.” He knew better than to tell her not to worry.

“But, who knew they were there? Who had that information?”

“We don’t know.” The Auror confessed. “But we need all the help we can get. It’s been a week since they ran away, we know all of the present saw she was Black, but, do you have any idea if that information has leaked?”

The Headmistress sat bonelessly on her favorite armchair, the one Neenie had given her. “Of course it had leaked. You know the rumors travel in this school, it had taken only a couple of hours before there was a Prophet reporter in our doorstep. It was one of our most stupid moves, to have all of them present.”

Sirius sighed unhappily. He was and Auror, true, and most of his job depended on being up to date with the current news of the magical world, yet he always was the last to know everything that was happening around him and that was entirely his fault. He always skipped the task of reading the Prophet. “And?”

“And I told them to contact the Head of House Black.”

“I have got nothing!”

The Headmistress was not impressed by that. “Have you got home at all?”

“No. I’ve been sleeping at Narcissa’s this whole week.”

“So there’re probably countless of letters trying to gather that information.” She sighed. “At least the Prophet is keeping quiet.”

Sirius nodded, somewhat relieved. That did not resolve their problems though. “So, who knew?”

“I don’t know.”

“And Narcissa?”

The Auror sighed. “My cousin is still trying to cope with the knowledge her baby boy actually ran away… I don’t have the heart to tell her he had been kidnapped too.”

They were silent for a couple of minutes, each trying to cope with the dread they were feeling, it was simply not easy.

“What are we going to do?” Minerva finally asked. They now knew where they ran off to, but it did not help them in finding them.

“Currently there’s a team looking for magical signatures in the house, so far they have traces of two wands and a heavy presence of wandless magic… we are matching the wands with our records, but we have no way of knowing who casted wandlessly.” He confessed frustrated. There was also a huge chance they would not know who owned the wands, kidnapping someone with a registered wand was just too stupid for even the stupidest to achieve.

That statement had Minerva chuckling for the first time since her baby ran away. “The wandless magic is Hermione’s, that’s how they could manage in the house without using their wands.”

Sirius nodded, that made sense. Still, it did not help them finding them. The kids had been safe up until some hours ago, and he could do nothing but feel it was their fault they were in danger now… if they could have been more subtle with Hermione’s real identity, none of this would have happened.

XxXxX

“No, I don’t! That’s why I came here, I don’t know where my little girl is!”

“Then how come you know she was in danger way before any of us knew?” Johnson sighed. This strange man was crazy. It had taken him a good hour to stop him speaking in riddles and start making sense… only for the man not to know how to answer them!

“I’ve told you, I know!” The man had the gall to answer him as he had been doing all the evening.

“How can you know?!”

“I just do!” Xeno cried desperate. There was no way he was going to tell the man the fairies around the Rook had told him Luna was in danger… they thought he was crazy, they really did not need confirmation if he told them fairies existed when most of them knew they did not.

David Johnson groaned. This man was driving him crazy and he was ready to give up. He was also ready to curse the man into next week, and, oh, how tempting to do that in any instant. Both were saved of even one more minute in their respective annoying company when the door of the little room they were in opened.

“Thank you so much, Dave,” Sirius said as he entered. “I can take it from here.”

The Auror smiled tiredly, but gratefully. He could not be near that blond a moment longer. “Thanks, Boss.” He said as he quickly escaped, not even bothering to greet the old witch that was entering at the room as he was leaving.

“Hello, Xeno.” McGonagall greeted him with a small smile as she sat in one of the three chairs available. “Do you know where our girls are?”

The tall blond man let out a relieved breath, he could be honest with Minerva and they would easily accept his word… if any just because she was Hermione’s mother and the safety of both their only children were at risk. “No, I’m sorry, but no. I have no idea where there are, only that the fairies told me they were in great danger.”

“Fairies?” Sirius muttered shocked. They were in an emergency and that man was talking about fairies?!

“They didn’t tell you more than that?” Minerva asked gently. She had been around Luna and Xeno over Christmas Break enough to understand that what they were saying was always the true even if it was a strange one… Lovegoods were simply not deceiving.

This was the part the fairer wizard dreaded to tell them. “They told me they are no longer in the island.” He gulped. “They’ve left Britain.”

 

# Chapter Forty-Eight – Caged

Everything hurt. From the tip of her hairs to the nails in her feet. Her body ached dully.

She was in an uneven surface, that was for sure, she was also bound… if the cold and hard feeling in her wrists and ankles, and the rattling sound she heard, were any indication. She could feel how small pebbles bit on her exposed back, showing that she was still topless. Her nose ached and felt dry, meaning there was dust somewhere around, and probably all kinds of dirt too.

“Neenie?”

She opened her eyes and what she saw did not really surprise her. Sure, she was lying on the cold floor, a floor that was surely part of a small cell in what she imagined could simply be a dungeon. Three of the walls were of dark stone, just as the low ceiling that remembered her of a visit she once made to a monastery. That the last wall was made all of iron bars was not a shock, though seeing the endless darkness that spread on the other side of it made her insides quiver.

“Neenie?” Luna called to her again.

“Little Moon?” She sat up as fully as she could, her pains making her stiff and slow. “Are you alright?”

The little blonde simply sobbed in relief. The four of them were chained at the walls at different intervals, making the two witches to be facing each other but with no way of getting closer. Draco and Harry were still unconscious, bounded to the third, larger wall, just as out of reach for any. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m scared.” A beat of silence. “Do you know what happened?”

Hermione did not need to have it spelled for her, of the three of them she had been the only one abducted while awake. The stunner that had been sent her way, though, had blocked her line of vision from other thing than the red light that had hit her. “I have no clue… smell as death, though.”

Luna nodded. The place was void of life, both magical and Muggle. It felt like they were simply in a space of land, surrendered by nothing, nothing at all. She knew it was pointless asking if Hermione knew who had them, it was a complete mystery they both knew would be answered sooner rather than later.

XxXxX

“I’m very pleased at you two. Your timely help did wonders on our plans and it is with great regret when I tell you, you cannot kill her.”

The two bowed before the powerful wizard could do nothing more than frown at that. That was not what they had asked when willingly joining him. “Master,” the smaller of the two started. “If may I inquire why is that?” 

“Ginevra, my dear.” The wizard seated in what would look like a throne in another place, preferably a castle, said. “We need her alive to make sure our plans are complete. We need her alive to throw Britain to their knees.”

“Master, I don’t understand.” Ginny Weasley said. In any other circumstances the nerve she was showing would have cost her her place in her Master ranks… however, her Master only having three true followers at the moment kept her safe, for now.

“Ginevra, Ronald,” The man addressed two of his most loyal followers, followers that had left Hogwarts just to make sure their Master had the information he needed for his grand return, followers that wanted nothing more than having their Master at the lead of Magical Britain again. “We need her to play for us, to champion us.”

“Master?” Ron had always been the thick out of the two, but even then, Ginny could not still wrap her head around what this wizard was trying to tell them.

“Imagine what grand return will be when I go back to Britain after _I_ help them get rid of the damned spawn of Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange? Of course, you two will be by my side, being the ones who helped me vanquish her evilness from our beloved land.”

That got them thinking. If their Master said the McGonagall bitch was out of limits for them, by all means, she was out of limits. But, if what their Master was telling them was true, then they had a lot to look out for. Returning to their family like heroes sure sounded better than trying to go back with their tail between their legs after leaving the castle, something that they had been prepared to do before their master had showed them his plans. They were now ready to stay with him until the right moment they were needed back.

They knew their Master will make certain the girl’s blood status was make clear, just like they were certain the powerful wizard before them would make sure she was labeled worse than her parents and that she was going to be forced to do his will. She was, after all, a stupid Muggle raised witch with a significant other they  could use as leverage if plans did not go as planned.

XxXxX

“Twenty-five out of forty?”

Nobody answered. They were uncomfortable, thirsty, hungry, and above all, in panic. They had not covered this side of wizarding society in their classes. ‘ _How to be kidnapped by a lunatic: 101’_ was simply not one lesson they learnt. They did not know where they were, who had took them nor why they were taken.

Shortly after Hermione woke up Draco and Harry had followed suit, leaving them at least with the knowledge that they were alive and unharmed. They had no way of knowing how much time had passed nor what time of the day was, they were simply in high alert and with no idea if they would be seeing the light of the day.

Maybe that’s why they were filling their time with unnecessary talking and stupid children games in the barely there light provided by a never-ending torch.

“Drop it, Harry,” Draco said exasperate. “I really don’t want to keep playing.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like we have anything better to do.”

“On the contrary, boy, you do have something better to be doing.”

That voice was new… but not unknown. Laced in shadows they could barely see this person, yet they all knew who he was.

“You?” Hermione almost snarled. “What the hell did we do to you?!”

Severus Snape approached them, the blackness of his clothes barely visible in the faint light. He was wearing a sneer in his face and it gave them the impression he had somewhat been sucking on lemons for the best part of the day. “Is not what you’d done to me, insolent girl, is more of what you _are_ going to do _for_ me.” He smiled and it sent a chill down the backs of all four of them. “People often forget I’m there, you know? I’m always just the potion brewer, no one of significance. That position is what had allowed me to spy for both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore, people tend to not notice me. They get careless, they forget to keep their secrets.

“You see, Miss _McGonagall,_ people also forgot I was there when you were born. They forgot it was me the one to give your psycho of a mother the blood-replacing potions, the painless ones… they forgot I was there when you first started showing traces of magic… The Dark Lord may have sworn the Inner Circle into secrecy, but he didn’t remember me. I know who you are, and while I also believe your bitch of a mother killed you I can easily see that’s not the case… specially if the Namae Suiyaku claims you are a Capella Black, _the_ Capella Balck.”

Hermione shivered at the almost predatory grin the man was now sporting. “What do you want?”

“What everybody want. Money, power, women…” He eyed Luna’s bare chest and the little blonde had to suppress the need to throw up at the mere fact his beady eyes were fixed in her breasts. “And you are you are my ticket to get those.”

The brunette’s blood boiled. That greasy bat had no right to see her Little Moon, especially with those soulless eyes. “Riiiigiht, I’m sure out parents are going to pay a high price for our release. Have you contact them yet?”

The older wizard laughed. It was a rich, from the belly laugh. “You are more valuable than a bargain chip, no, we have other plans for you lot.”

“We?” Draco asked, finally entering the ‘conversation’.

“Oh, yes, my Master is the one pulling all the strings… he has such lovely plans for you.” He got even closer, a hand going through the bars to gently caress Luna’s flaxen hair. If it had been any other man, in any other situation, the action could have been considered almost caring, but this, this just showed how messed he really was.

With a sob, Luna curled even more into herself, barely avoiding those long, cold fingers that had reached out for her. “Leave her alone, bastard!” Harry tried to claw at the man, being the closets, but missing him for a good three inches.

Severus simple laughed again. He was having the most fun and he was so not going to stop anytime soon. He had orders not to harm them, but he could easily mock them and it was fine with him, for now. The little witch had been promised to him when they finally achieved their goals, just like the Potter fortune was going to be his. The two Weasley urchins would have some of it, sure, but the fortune was vast enough he could buy them both a tropical island and still have money to enjoy.

“Don’t worry, boy, my Master is putting the last touches at his master plan, then, and only then, I’ll be touching her how I please.”

Hermione snarled, her eyes no longer the chocolate brown her friends loved, yet, there was no ice coming to her rescue. She pulled at her chains, but the only thing that she managed was to cut herself with them.

“Oh,” Snape retreated to the shadows beyond their cell. “Did I forget to mention those cuffs are specially designed to muffle magic? How silly of me.” And with those last words lingering in the darkness he left them, shaken and scared… and utterly screwed.

XxXxX

“Ah, Severus, back from taunting the hostages?”

“Master.” The dungeon bat nodded respectfully, promptly ignoring the redheaded vacuum that was doing such a great work of disappearing all the food that lay in the table. “They are fun to taunt.” He simply said.

The powerful wizard sighed. Taunting an enemy surely was a fun activity, such a shame he wanted to stay hidden from them up until the last moment. It would do not good having himself revealed when the shock of seeing him played such a huge role in his master plans. “How is the potion coming along?”

“Wonderful, my Master. In just a few hours it would be complete and you’ll have yourself two minions to do as you please.”

“Perfect…” His Master sighed again. It was such a shame they could not came up with a plan to lure the girl to their side… the witch was better off dead, but having the other two would be just as useful. Unfurtunately it did not take them a second to realize those were loyal to the Black girl’s way of living and ideals. The blonde girl could have been such a good asset on her own, but she could easily be the perfect pawn, filled with potions so she could do Serverus bidding.

“Also,” Snape interrupted his Master’s musings. “I acquired the last of the artifacts; it was indeed in possession of Black, as you rightly guessed. After a bit of persuasion, his elf has given it to me.” He proudly said as he presented his Master with a rather old looking necklace that showed them a little snake slithering in its surface.

The powerful wizard before him blinked stunned at the offering. That was certainly a merry new! They had ben short two of the artifacts just a day before and now Severus was telling him that they managed to find the last lost one. With Harry a couple of floors below, and this really elusive bit of Dark Magic, he was now set to finish what he started all those years ago. Taking it in both his hands whit the reverence one could show to a newborn, the man could not help but grin like an idiot. “Perfect, my dear friend, just perfect.”

 “I’m pleased you’re pleased, Master.”

Still so happy he could cry, he turned to the other two in the room, still addressing Snape. “Young Ginevra and Ronald are going back to Hogwarts tonight, we need someone on the inside, telling us what moves are Minerva and her cronies are doing.

“Master,” Ginny said from her place in the table, far, far away from where Ron was eating. She had grown a backbone, knowing there were very few people currently backing their Master so that she was in no danger of inquiring his wrath. It also helped her Master was so happy with the little necklace her old Potion teacher had given him. “Ron and I’d like to see them before we leave… if that’s acceptable.”

The former Potion Teacher sneered at the audacity that insolent whelp had. He could not believe how low his Master had come, to rely on a couple of lesser students, almost squibs, to help them with an address where the stupid Morgen Black was staying at. It had been such a blow to hit him with when those two pathetic Weasleys had come forward and told their Master that the stupid girl had grown in Lewisham and that that was where they believe they could find her.

Well, if he was honest with himself, he could easily tell the girl was pretty clever, what she lacked in power and knowledge she made in cunning and prowess. She was easily the brains of the duo, Ronald Weasley was just there for ‘muscle’. Although he was as scrawny as his sister.

“Very well, Ginevra, dear, you can go see them before you leave… but have in mind you need to be cautious with what you tell them… we wouldn’t want them to know our plans, would we?” He was indeed so happy he could not but help to share a little of that happiness.

“No, Master. Thank you, Master.” 


	12. Chapter 12

# Chapter Forty-Nine – The Master

“I’ll kill them.”

“Mia-”

“I don’t care what you’re going to say, I’m killing them. Sooner rather than later.”

“… I was going to say that we’ll help you.”

Hermione snorted. She had the only three people in her life that really mattered to her now, all of them that would be lying dead as the day ended according to Ginny, and Harry bloody Potter was cracking jokes around. “This is not helping, me, Harry.”

The raven haired boy sighed. He knew his sister was beyond angry, and with good reason. Not only five minutes ago Ron and Ginny had come and taunted them on how they were going to be the new leaders of the Light, how they would be heroes once they got rid of the spawn of both Voldemort and Bellatrix.

Unknowingly, they had just signed their death’s sentence.

Draco, the calmest of all them sighed too. They were gaining nothing by getting mad at the two most stupid wizards he had ever come across. “Instead of plotting their demise, please think on a way out of here.”

Hermione scoffed. “Don’t you think I’m trying to?” They were waist deep in dragon shit. Not only their magic was bound, they had absolutely no idea who the Master Ron and Ginny were following, and if things got so much worse, they would end up losing Luna to those potions the Weasleys were talking about. That was if the girl simply did not disappeared in her own mind.

The blonde little girl was just that, a little girl. Sure, she was mature enough to try and have a relationship with Hermione; sure she was mature enough and smart enough to follow most, if not all, of their fifth year conversations; she was bright enough to understand them better than most, she fit with the older three like no other did… but she was still thirteen and it really looked like this was the point in which she draw the line.

Luna had escaped school with them, trying to protect the brunette just like Harry and Draco had done, she had helped her understand that her who her parents were was not important, but she was still a child and she was scared senseless, the visit they had just received, coupled with the way Snape had ogled her not too long before, had drove home that they could easily die, or worse,… and Luna was not ready to understand and face that. She was too young to really cope with what was happening to them.

So it was really no wonder Hermione wanted to kill those that had made her girlfriend retreat into herself, refusing to speak to them and crying quietly in her corner of the room.

“Well, first of all, we need to find out where we are.” Harry mused. “Then we need a way to unbound our magic… then I’m sure we can find our way out… is any of you animagus?”

Hermione and Draco shook their heads. They understood the reasoning behind that question, both well aware of the way Sirius had managed to flee Azkaban by that small power the four of them lacked. Being able to change into an animal was great, but it was simply an ability none of them had thought was useful. Until now.

“Sorry, mate,” Draco smiled sadly. “I cannot change into a mongrel.”

“That’s not really what I was thinking of, Drake, I picture you more of a rattlesnake…”

“Me?! A snake?! What on Merlin name made you think of that?!”

“Weeeell… frankly? It’s your face. You’ve the face of a rather nasty snake th-”

“Pixiecakes shouldn’t be around Nargles and Firetrots… Silvenfoos are also not nice to them…”

It was just a murmur, just a little comment, yet it was enough for the two wizards to stop trying to fill up the silence they all knew would make them go crazy. Hermione closed her eyes, a single tear running down her cheek… they needed a way out, and soon… she could not chance losing her Luna.

XxXxX

“We are ready, Master.”

The powerful wizard stood with grace not fit for his age. The promise of power just outside his grip was too great to heed the ache in his tired bones and old frame. Walking slowly, knowing his captives were both chained and bound, he made his way to the antechamber that had been set to entertain their guests. They were in for a treat, after all, and he would not like to miss a thing.

XxXxX

Everything was dark. She knew she had her eyes open, she could feel them blinking, trying to catch anything, trying to see beyond the blackness.

The air was stiff, stale and did not allowed to identify any kind of smell that could allow her to know what they were surrounded by. She knew the other three were with her, she had heard how all of them were being led to these rather uncomfortable chairs, but she could not smell them and that scared her.

She could also feel how her wrists and ankles were chained to the metallic frame of her chair, as she could feel the constriction sensation around her neck that led her know her head was covered by _something_ , something thick enough that it was impossible for her to do anything but breath, and that was barely, and hear. At least she was wearing one of the t-shirts Snape had given them before he stunned them again.

She heard the muffled cursed words that every so often left Draco’s and Harry’s mouths. She could hear the tic-tock of a clock in near distance. She could hear the wind whirling around. She could hear her own deep breaths. And she could hear Luna’s quiet sobbing.

She closed her eyes pained; she would do anything to save the love of her life. Anything. ‘ _I swear to God and all saints, Luna, I’ll even use an Avada Kedabra if its means you being away from here.’_

“Well, well, well,” The snarky voice of the man she had come to hate the most called to her from the other side of the darkness. “I’m glad to see you haven’t moved an inch from where I’ve last left you.”

“Well, it’s not like we are able to move, are we?”

Snape laughed. The bastard _laughed._ “So much like your father, Potter, even in death’s door still trying to act like a hero.” He said with mirth and something that was simply too disturbing to understand. “My Master will be delighted.” He said as he forcibly removed the foul sack from Hermione’s head, allowing her to see that she had been the last to be uncovered.

Harry and Draco were glaring at their ex-professor with something akin to rage, while Luna simply stared ahead, sobbing, to a place where shadows made it impossible to see, from where a weak chuckle was heard.  “Well, well, too good to officially meet you, Miss Black.”

That voice was one she was eerily familiar with. A voice she thought she was not going to hear ever again.

“You’re dead.” Harry told the man with a face full of incredulity. “You _are_ dead!”

The man simply chuckled. “My dear boy, I am as alive as I was the last time we saw each other… surely you aren’t naïve enough to believe the rumors of those rags most call newspapers? A little lie here, a little lie there… and the Prophet says I died.”

Hermione growled. She never really pictured him as the kidnapping type… hell, she never pictured him as the grandfatherly one either, and that was the cover he always used. “Dumbledore,” She snarled. “What’s the meaning of this?!” Oh, that bastard was so dead now.

The aged wizard chuckled again, merrily reminding them of the times he used to be their headmaster. “Miss Black, is such a joy to know you finally realize your true heritage. I’m sure Tom would be very proud of your power.”

That was met with silence. What was this man playing at?

“Oh, I’m sorry,” The man had the gall to really look ashamed. “You don’t know your father is Tom Riddle? You may better know him as Voldemort, though. We suspected it was you… after all not many mudbloods show such a good hold of their powers as you.”

Hermione gulped and paled as she closed her eyes. That little tidbit of information was really something no one even though. They had been so focused on their answers that they had not thought of someone else knowing of her and actually looking for her.

“But enough of chit chat, my dears, I have something to show you that you’ll all love. Severus, if you will?”

“Yes, Master.”

The four teens looked with trepidation how the dungeon bat rolled an ordinary looking service cart into the space the small semicircle the chairs they were bounded to made. With a small flourish not so different from his melodramatic antics in the Potion’s classroom, he lifted the sheet that had been covering the top part of the cart to reveal an assortment of knickknacks that were simply too random to make sense, all of them were broken and soot covered, all except one…

“Hey!” Harry exclaimed startled. “That’s Tom’s diary!”

Dumbledore laughed, not a small chuckle like the ones he was so fond of, no, but a full out belly-shaker laugh. “That’s right, my boy, that’s the diary that possessed Ginevra all those years ago. The first Horcrux destroyed!”

Snape sniffed seeing the confusion on the teen’s eyes. “Allow me to explain it to these dunderheads, Master.”

“Of course, of course, my boy.”

The greasy wizards then stepped next to them, and next to the cart. “Centuries ago a rather powerful and dark witch came across the perfect way to achieve immortality. Not that stupid thing called the Philosopher Stone, no, that really only allow the user to live many years without decaying, but they are very much weak to illness and murderers alike… no, what Morgana, yes Morgana, discovered was something so much more useful. Tearing just a bit of her soul and storing it into an object she was able to maintain something of her in this world once she was murdered by her son… the first time. Thanks to her Horcrux, as she decided to call it, she was able to return into another body and kill him in retaliation. Herpo the Foul, however, did the one most people now of creating this kind of dark magic.

“What you see here, you stupid kids, are five objects that were selected by the Dark Lord to hold a little bit of his soul. These, are his Horcruxes.”

“Five?” Draco asked after the long time if took him to gather his tongue. “Why five? Aren’t three better? Why not seven?” The numbers were simply not magically powerful enough for the deed, and if Draco was going to tear his soul apart, then he might as well do a good job out of it.

Snape let himself sneer, his version of a satisfied smile. “There are, or rather, were seven of these… I’m sure you remember Quirinus Quirrell and Nagini, right?” A sense of understanding fell on Hermione, Harry and Draco’s bodies, Luna had no real understanding of what was being spoken and it showed in her face. “However,” The Potion Master continued. “We believe these are not the only ones… there is another that we must destroy before we can say Voldemort is really dead.”

They did not need to have it spelled to them; not really, the way he was looking at Harry was clue enough for them to be weary and scared. Surely they were not thinking that…  

Dumbledore smiled. “Sorry, my boy, you need to die.”

He had not said that. There was no way he meant that. Harry was not a Horcrux.

“However,” The ex-Headmaster continued speaking as if he was casually commenting on the weather. “I believe there is a greater threat in the room right now.”

Hermione was the brightest witch of the era, she could easily say she was also one of the most powerful, and she did not need it to be spelled for her. She was the biggest threat in the room for these two crazy wizards.

She sighed. “What do you want? Killing us would give you nothing. All England know you are a crazy old goat.”

The old man’s face reddened in fury. “Killing you, the daughter of Voldemort, will ensure all of them see the light! I AM THE LIGHT CHAMPION! I AM THE ONE THEY SHOULD BE PRAISING! NOT YOU!”

Harry snarled. “You old fool; we killed him because we could, not because we chose to!”

Dumbledore sniffed, quickly regaining his composure, and making them wonder if the man was not truly loony. “Still, the wizarding world will acclaim me again once they find I not only killed all of Voldemort’s soul pieces, but also his daughter, a girl we could say was turning as dark as her parents.”

“I’m not dark.” If looks could kill, both kidnappers’ heads would have exploded as Hermione glared at them.

The twinkle in Dumbledore’s eyes was nothing if not truly shining. “Really? Young Ginevra and Ronald have told me of your little tantrums and anger problems.” He smiled sweetly. “Besides, the way you are looking at me right now reminds me of a young Bella Black trying to destroy her enemies.”

Hermione growled and it sounded more animalistic than it was healthy.

“There! There!” The old wizard started bouncing around happily and pointing to her. “That’s the darkness peeking! I’m sure you want me dead, I’m so sure you want to kill me right now! This is marvelous! Killing you know is totally justified!”

“You are crazy!” Draco yelled as the man stopped hopping of joy and swiftly pulled out his white wand and leveled it to Hermione.

“Wait!” The now targeted witch cried frantically. “Kill me, tell them I was the evil incarnated, but spare their lives! Please don’t kill them!” It would not matter if she was dead, she was not afraid of it. Sure she would regret not being there for her love, for her Little Moon, but she could easily trade her life for her friends’. She was not as important as them, of that she was sure.

“Er,” The once proclaimed leader of the Light lowered his wand, hesitating, before smiling at her, beaming as a kid in Christmas morning. “I have plans for them already, sorry.” Raising again his powerful foci he simply recited:

“ _AVADA KEDABRA!”_

XxXxX

“Please tell me you can feel were they are.”

Sniffles was a good elf.

She was standing before her kneeling Mistress, her Mistress that was currently crying a river and making it almost impossible for the intelligent elf to understand her. She knew her little mistresses were gone, just as she knew they had both been safe and quiet happy. That had all changed, though, that very morning. She had felt the despair leaving her young charges, and the fear that had consumed little Miss Luna, leaving her with such a pain and uncertainty that she felt like crying, just like her Mistress.

Sniffles was a good elf, in fact, she was the best elf in the world according to Miss Neenie, so, being the good elf she was, she had told her Mistress she could not know where her Miss Neenie was… because Miss Neenie did not want her Mama to find her. And as her Mistress had not ordered her to tell her, she had been keeping quiet.

But Sniffles as was a really good elf, she knew she had to talk now, even if she was not being ordered to do so. And she was really perceptive, just like all the elves. She knew her Miss Neenie was in danger, she could feel it in her bones and in the connection her magic had with the young witch. So, even when her Miss Neenie had asked her to please not to tell, Sniffles needed her young Miss to be safe.

“Sniffles is knowing where Miss Neenie is. Sniffles is needing Dobby’s help, but Sniffles can be taking Mistress and Aurors there.” The little elf knew it would not be easy, it would not be without pain, but she needed her Miss Neenie safe.

So, even if it cost her her life, she was a good elf and she was bringing help to her little Miss.

# Chapter Fifty  -  Nowhere

Burning heat.

Blinding darkness.

Unbearable pain.

Echoing silence.

And a tug on her brain that tried to convince her this was not happening.

The darkness was totally impenetrable. She lay curled in the middle of it, just a spot of light in the middle of endless blackness. No sound reached as the silence bounced around the space, a space that for her had no boundaries, no limits, no end.

Her skin was boiling like never before. It was almost as if the skin itself was bubbling in a way she knew was not possible. She had had this kind of feeling once or twice, when she lost control of the ice, but never for this long, never this intense.

The shreds in the heart were new, though. When she still lived in her Muggle home her ‘mother’ used to watch several telly series, some of them about doctors that sometimes spent the whole hour trying to revive a single, dying and in pain, patient. She wondered if those patients, weather fictional or real, suffered the same kind of pain she was going through. If so, she could understand those that begged the doctors to end their lives.

She knew, however, that there was something, no, someone out there calling out for her.

She frowned. _She_ was calling, _she_ was asking her to stop.

Stop what? She was just there, lying motionlessly. She could not move, it hurt too much to even breathe. How could she even stop when she was not doing?

Yet, _she_ was still there, claiming for her.

Maybe she could listen for a moment, then.

So she did.

XxXxX

“Ella!”

That cry of happiness was not something she imagined could be waiting for her once the darkness subsided.

“Oh, my dear Ella! You stopped, thank Merlin!”

Warily she opened her eyes just to close them quickly at the blinding light, so different from the blackness she was waking up from. “Where am I?” she groggily asked, still too disoriented to actually tell her surroundings.

“Nowhere.”

The young brunette scoffed. “I must be _somewhere_.”

“No, you are at _Nowhere._ ”

She opened her eyes again. She was lying in a hard surface, probably a floor, if the sight she was met with was any indication. She was curled into a small ball, facing what could only be the legs of a bench. _‘Uh? A bench? Where the heck am I?’_

Gently, as to not make herself dizzy, she uncurled and raised to a sitting position. She looked around and she could see she was somewhere she did recognized. She was in what could only be described as a long piece of floor with train-tracks at either side of it. “King Cross.” She muttered when the name finally came to her.

“Not quite, love.”

The same voice that had been talking to her said. She turned to it, then, curious to know how was with her in the all too white train station. The woman whose voice was so sweet and tender was looking at her from her place sitting in a wooden bench, just a few meters away from her. This woman looked familiar. Way too familiar.

She had long, chestnut curls, that reached the mid of her back and framed her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were a deep black, deeper and darker than night itself, but they were shining with love and happiness. The woman’s nose was a cute little button. Her skin was pale, as if the sun had never kissed it, so different from her own tanned one.

And her smile. She was smiling with so much peace and affection that Hermione had to gasp. She knew this woman, and, if her aging was graceful, she was sure she would be looking at her every day in the future each and every time she looked at the mirror.

“Mama?” Just a simple word uttered without thinking. Just four letters murmured in disbelief, but also in amazement.

The woman simply beamed and stood.

“Mama!” Hermione cried, tears running down her cheeks as she scrambled to her feet. She could not remember her time with this woman at all, but she could remember the safeness, the calmness, the happiness, the joy. The love. Without any sense of the decorum she had been drilled as a kid she launched herself to the open arms of her mother.

The open arms of Bellatrix Black.

“My sweet Ella, my precious little girl.” Bella cooed into her hair as she embraced her kin, her beloved daughter. “How much I love you. How much I miss you.”

Hermione, for her part, just could cry her heart out onto the woman’s chest, finally being able to feel this kind of affection, this simply act of love that she should have been able to experience way before. Sure Minerva said she loved her… and she had felt cared for in her arms, and up until now, that would have been enough, she would have no need for anything else but the Headmistress’ love and support, but this was just different, much more real, much more believable, much more true.  “Mama.” She whimpered. “Mama.”

“Hey, Little Love.” Bella gently placed her hands on her shoulders and held her to arms’ length when she was reduced to mere sniffles. “Let me see you, I want a memory of you.”

Hermione nodded as she tried to clean her face with the heels of her hands, prompting a chuckle from her mother, her real mother.

“Here, let me help you.” The older witch said as she pushed her hands away and started cleaning the mess on her cheeks and nose with a soft piece of cloth that had appeared from thin air. “You are beautiful.” She murmured as she led her to the bench she had been occupying, sitting in it and placing the girl on her lap sideways. “You have his eyes… and chin.” She said as an afterthought.

“Mama?” The younger brunette asked confused, cuddling into the woman’s warmth, before it hit her. “Is he here?” She asked a little alarmed as she started looking around frantically.

Bella laughed, it was not like the maniac crackle she once heard she was so famous of, no, it was simply a little laugh of amusement, if not a little hollow. “Oh, my Love, ever since you were little you were weary of him…” She smiled sadly as she gazed down on the girl that was now stiff as a board. “He’s not still dead, Little One, but he’s always love you, even when you were scared of him. Ella, he would never harm you.”

“He almost did once.” Hermione muttered thinking on the battle where he ‘died’ and the plans he had that included her and his inner Circle. It did make her heart lighter knowing her father was not around.

The other witch sighed. “Yes, I saw that, but you need to believe that if he had known he would have never even hinted that.”

The littler brunette frowned as she cuddled back to her mother. “It was still wrong.”

Bella sighed again. “Yes it was.”

They stayed for a couple of minutes in utter silence, calmly enjoying being so close to one another, before the younger one’s need of answers simply was too hard to ignore. “Mama?” The older witch hummed in acknowledge. “I’m dead, right?”

“No love, not really.” Bella kissed the top of her daughter’s head. “You were succumbing to death, but thankfully you stopped and woke here… and before you ask, we are in Nowhere, where souls sometimes are stranded until they can either pass through or go back.”

“But you are here. You are dead.”

The taller brunette chuckled. “I only came to meet you. I needed to see you before you go back and I return to the Void.”

“Go back…” Hermione murmured before frowning again. “How it is possible? I was hit with a Killing Curse. I was supposed to die immediately.”

“No, Little Love.” The taller brunette inhaled her kid’s essence, snow and just a hint of cinnamon. “Shortly after you were born both your father and I craved a series of runes on your body and preformed quite the array of rituals to ensure you would always be protected from harm.”

“Wha-? That’s soul magic! How could you that to your kid?!” Hermione practically screeched. It was not only soul magic that was performed in her body, prohibited by all the magical communities because it messed with the person’s true self, but it had to be one of the darkest ones as her body had no trace of the runes nor sign of the rituals that surely had had to change _something_ in her. How could they possibly do something that vile on her? Were they not supposed to love her? What kind of parents were they? Did they not care for her?

A sharp slap on the side of her thigh stopped her train of thought immediately. “Do not use that tone with me, young lady!” She was scolded with such a glare that she was marveled she did not made a mess on her Mama’s lap.

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered as she lowered her gaze, not only scared of the older witch, but also truly terrified of what she had said and had been thinking. “I’m so sorry.”

Bella sighed yet again. “No, love, I’m the one sorry.” Hermione was hugged in a thigh embrace for a few seconds before being softly kissed in the forehead. “You have every right to be angry, and I should be proud of you for knowing what I’m talking about… but you have to understand that we needed you safe, no matter what, no matter the cost.”

“But…” The younger one wanted to tell her that it was wrong, it was simply too dark, too evil, to perform in a newborn. They had cursed her life forever.

“You know… you were not the only baby subjected to that.”

Hermione gulped. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve talked with Lily Potter and most of the rituals she performed on Harry were the same as I did on you. That’s how the boy was able to brush away your father’s rather weak curse… I believe that’s also the reason he’s been able to survive this long.”

The young Gryffindor paled. “No. That’s not possible, that can’t be true.” She blinked back tears as she looked to her mother with imploring eyes. “Tell me you are lying; tell me we are not both cursed! Please!”

“I’m sorry, Little Love, what’s done it’s done.”

Hermione crumbled into the older woman’s arms, silently crying for the revelation she had been given. “What it did to me? To us?”

Bella smiled sadly. “I think that is something you can deduce yourself.”

The shorter brunette nodded… now many things made sense. “Harry’s natural talent on a broom is just too good to be real, as is my almost perfect memory… We both have a hard time controlling our anger, and we both are prone to explode when provoked. Harry is also a Parselmouth, a dark ability…”

“And you can control Elemental Magic.” Bella blinked back her own tears. “Which, more often than not, means a rather unbalanced soul that heavily relays in dark energy.”

Hermione whimpered. History had showed that the most grandiose the gifts a wizard had, or the most they could accomplish with their magic, were inevitably related with an inclination to one of the two types of energies, be it dark or light, and it was then just her luck that her balance was tilted to the dark side of the scale. As so apparently was Harry’s.

Every creature, no matter if it was magical or not, was born with a neutral soul that started changing as soon as the first breath was drawn. Through their lives the choices made and the actions taken determinate if the soul is dark or evil, up until the moment the life is ended and no other means for the soul to change were possible to make. That was the reason soul magic was banned, it altered the balance of the soul and it was almost impossible to reverse the changes made. Having a dark or a light soul was a choice to be make… a choice that was taken from both Harry and her. What they had done to them was in an elemental way worse than those Horcruxes Snape was talking about before her ‘death’.

“What about my wandless magic?” Hermione asked through her tears. She did not want powers that were created out of the tampering of her soul.

“That’s sorely yours, Love. You are a brilliant and powerful witch.”

The younger brunette scoffed, such a small consolation prize she had been given.

“You know,” Bella said softly as Hermione let her tears run. “Having a dark soul doesn’t immediately translate to being evil, just as having a light soul means someone is good.”

“Uh?”

“You’ll always have the desire to act harshly, to hate and to harm, but what you do with that desire is your choice and that, love, is what makes you human. You don’t need to be evil, Little Love, if that is what you want, you can be good.”

Hermione scoffed. “That won’t make hell a better place.”

“There is not such a thing as Heaven or Hell, Love, there’s only the Void.”

The Gryffindor blinked the last of her tears at that. “So no matter how bad I behave I’ll end up with Gandhi either way?”

Bella smiled softly at the thick sarcasm that was so Tom. “Lovely man, that one. In a way yes, no matter what you do you’ll end in the same place as all of us for eternity, however, how you pass that time is entirely up to what you did on your living time. You see, Little Love, most of our time is spent looking over our loved ones and remembering the choices _we_ made that led them to live the lives they have.” She sighed and finally let a tear escape the corner of her eye. “I’ve spent the last years looking how you had to fend for yourself, feeling your longing for love and acceptance, and reliving the key moments of my life that made yours so sad and hard. There is not a worse thing that seeing how someone that was meant to be happy and loved suffered as you did. I’m sorry.”

Hermione looked stunned as the proud witch that had been holding her so securely and so strong for last several minutes crumbled as she told those words. It appeared that no matter how hard one’s heart was, it still bled for a loved one. “It’s okay.” She murmured, unsure on how to comfort the other woman.

“No, it’s not, but it is my sentence to bear.” Bella looked up and tilted her head in softly to the right, listening to something that she was the only one able to hear. “Our time is almost over, Little Love, you need to head back soon.”

“What?! No!” Hermione yelled alarmed. She did not want to leave the woman that made her feel the closest to home she had ever felt. “I don’t want to go. Please don’t make me go!”

The older brunette shook her head. “You need to go back, you have a long life to live.”

“But-”

“Shh. There’s no point in arguing, we cannot change this. You’ll wake up a minute or so after you were killed, Love. However, before you go, there’s something you need to burn in your memory.” Bella looked at her daughter dead in the eye, conveying exactly how important this information was. “Fight for those you love, Ella, even if they don’t love you back. Fight for their happiness and their freedom of choice, even if that means giving yourself up. Fight for their love and their lives, even if that means losing yours. Always think of them first, second and third, you come only until the very end. Live your life in servitude for those who need you, for those that need someone to stand up for them, because they can’t. Always give your best, and if needed, die trying to become the person you want to be. Your magic, especially the one that feeds on dark energy, is strong enough to overcome any and all obstacles, believe in it. But, hear me, dear daughter, you must _stay forever true,_ for the only thing we truly have is ourselves and we need to cherish that. And, then, then, no matter what choices you make, my Love, they will always be the right ones. Do you understand?”

Hermione nodded, promising herself that she would never forget her mother’s words and vowing to both the older woman and herself that she would do everything in her power to follow through with them. She kissed her mother for the first, and last, time in the cheek, trying to convey how much this time with her had meant to the young witch. She pulled back, just in time to feel a strange sensation in her belly. She was waking up. “I love you, Mama.”

The corner of her eyes started darkening rapidly, blocking her vision of the woman that had given birth to her and blackness surrounded her yet again, just before she heard her mother’s parting words: “I love you too, my Precious Ella.”

 

# Chapter Fifty-One – Rescue.

“Ding dong! The witch is dead! The witch is dead! The witch is dead!”

That was the first thing she heard after waking up. Her chest hurt as did her head. She was doubled over on the chair, her face almost touching her stomach in a position way too uncomfortable to be natural.

 _‘You’ve just woken from death, you dumb girl.’_ She reminded herself as the last hour or so, at least for her, replayed in her mind. Anger and sadness battled in her. Anger at being torn away from the place she could tell was her home, and sadness as knowing she had yet many years to live before her return. But, she would hear her mother’s words and act according to them. She would forever stay true to herself and to those she loved. And she would not let harm come to them.

“You know,” She muttered, shutting Dumbledore’s chanting abruptly, as she raised her head to look at the man in the eye. “I don’t know whether you are the brainless scarecrow, the scared lion or the heartless tin man… because surely you are _not_ Dorothy, no matter how much you like to dress like a girl!”

“What?! How?!” The old ex-Headmaster yelled alarmed. “I killed you! I used the Killing Curse!”

“Then you are a shittier wizard than we all thought!” The room was looking at her with wide eyes, at both the gall she had to call the powerful man names, and that, well, she was _alive_. She smirked, and it really looked like she was the daughter of Tom Marvolo Riddle. “After all, you couldn’t manage to kill Father on your own, could you? You had to force Harry to do it.”

Dumbledore recoiled at that jab, his face turned a nice shade of puce, one usually more linked to Vernon Dursley than the supposedly Leader of the Light. “You insolent brat! I’ll kill you!”

Hermione hardened her gaze and she glared at them, especially at Snape, that up until then had been inching his way to where Luna was seated, clearly trying to use her as leverage or as a shield. “Stop that, Snappy.” She growled and for a moment it was as hell had frozen over. “Leave her alone, bat.”

Snape snorted as he pulled his out his wand from his holster, why he even stored it away was a mystery to her. Were all the bad guys simply overconfident? She was sure she would never put her wand away if she had someone bound and at her mercy… one would never know what the hostages would have up their sleeves. Just as she had one little trick she was sure would tip the scale to their side.

As the ex-Professor freed his foci he was met with a sight that most wizards never had the chance to see, not that he did. His wand, the only material thing he once felt proud of, was littered with small spikes of ice, all of them piercing their way through the wood and small enough not to be noticed at first. And so, when he tried to cast his first non-verbal spell on the now catatonic Luna, the magical backlash was so strong that he was thrown into the wall behind him, making Hermione chuckle and the rest of them to look at her with wide eyes. “What?” She asked amused. “I was not going to let him harm my Luna.”

“Why you little-” Whatever threat he was going to make was swiftly stopped as his whole body was suddenly increased in thick, thick ice.

“I’m tired of your voice, Snappy.” She smiled, however, it really looked like she was as overconfident as them, as a bright beam of emerald light silently went soaring to her right… were Harry was, just a moment before, sitting looking at the show with an bemused smile on his face… where he was now slumped over, dead. “You bastard!”

Dumbledore smiled sweetly. “Your father is now on the way to hell.”

Part of her knew that Harry was protected, her Mama had told her so, but the other, bigger part of her, simply saw the murdered of her _little_ brother smiling and beaming at her. Up until that moment she could tell she was having a fine control of her Elemental Magic, because now she knew what to call it, but now, now she was enraged and she needed blood. _His_ blood. “And so are you.” She snarled.

XxXxX

“Are we sure you two can do it?” Sirius asked for the tenth time.

“Yes, Master Sirius, sir.” Dobby’s nodding made his ears flap loudly in the eerie quite room. A dozen or Aurors were ready to accompany them in their search for the missing four students. To tell the air was thick would be an understatement.

“We need to get going, there is no way of knowing what kind of problems they are facing… and they are alone.” The usually composed Headmistress was a bundle of nerves, pacing up and down in front Sirius’ desk at the DMLE. “We needed them back.”

“Okay,” Sirius agreed on principle, they surely did not know what kind of mess they were in, and the mission was suicidal for the only reason they had no idea what they were up against. All the Aurors present had volunteered to go and help, with no real pay and a big chance of not returning. He was not too eager to get this operation going. “Let’s get through it again. Sniffles and Dobby would both snap to Harry and Hermione carrying the portkey positioner, right? Good. A second after they are gone, our portkey will activate and send us to them. We are to arrive ready to fight, everything under the Unforgivables is allowed. _Try_ not to kill, only maim, but do not use only stunners, _comprende_ Johnson?”

“Yes, sir.” Johnson, a man often critiqued for his use of light and weak curses, blushed. It was really not in his nature to seek harm to others, his part in this mission was to free the hostages and portkey them back to the Ministry, however, he knew he might need to use his wand for more than that, and her was ready to do so.

“Our goal is to have the kids back, aside for that, everything else is unimportant. If we capture the kidnappers, good, if we kill them, better, but do not put in jeopardy their and _your_ lives. Now, everybody has their return portkeys? Great. Johnson, you have the four for the kids?” After receiving a series of nods for confirmation, he turned to Minerva. “We ready to go.”

The old witch took hold of the thin piece of ribbon that would take them to the elves the moment they ‘landed’. “Sniffles, Dobby, please take us to Neenie and Harry.”

With twin nods, the two tiny creatures snapped away, followed a second later by the twelve Aurors and a frantic Headmistress. 

XxXxX

Bellatrix, her Mama, had told her that her magic was enough to overcome any obstacle, and so, she had believed that was the true, that was the reason why she had felt so confident tricking Snape… she simply believed she could.

And now, she believed she would be free and be able to avenge the young wizard she considered family. She believe her magic would allow her to snap the chains around her wrists and ankles, just like it would protect Draco and Luna, the ones that could not stand for themselves now.

She would first lose herself than let harm come to her Luna. To her Draco and Harry.

She believed in herself, and so, her magic would comply.

XxXxX

Later on he would not tell exactly what had happened, he would not believe it. He had seen how her two best friends, his Mia and his Harry were struck with the same vile curse, both of them dying in a way that was simply too evil to be considered humane. A curse that was practically the last thing one saw, the curse only Harry freaking Potter had managed to surpass… until now.

Draco Malfoy was no fool, Hermione had been struck with the Avada Kedabra, and yet there she was, glaring at the old goat Dumbledore as he gloated about killing Harry, again. He gasped as the iron of her chains, snapped into pieces, showering him in little flakes of metal and giving him a sense of great cold and doom all over his body.

“You are very old fool, Albus.” Hermione’s voice was different from her usually bossy, yet sweet one. No, her voice now sounded raspy and strained, like she was really putting an effort into talking, like it was really a great effort to actually form the words in her mouth. “You play with fire and hope not to get burn… or should I say ice? They burn the same, after all.”

In the second it took Draco to understand that the chains that had been holding her were, indeed, broken thanks to the thick layer of ice that covered them for a moment before snapping them apart, the old wizard was covered in ice from the waist down, his lips instantly turning blue from all the cold he was suffering.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Dumbledore’s yell was just slightly affected by the chatter of his teeth.

Hermione simply rose from her seat, a fluid, elegant and at the same time strong, move that left Draco wondering if his best friend had hid her real self from them up until now. His Mia was acting like someone he did not know. This new witch was radiating power and his inner Slytherin was howling to him to run. And hide. 

“I’d like to chat with you, Albus,” Hermione stated calmly to the old man, almost as if she was simply talking about Quidditch, as she gracefully approached him. For Draco it was like seeing a Lioness stalking her prey. “I really do, but I think we both know that the longer I take to kill you, the longer you’ll have to plan an escape… I cannot allow that.”

If Dumbledore was going to say something, it was soon prevented as his tongue froze completely, prompting a deep, guttural groan of utter pain from the man and tears gathered at the corner of his eyes. He glared at Hermione and leveled his wand to her, ready to strike… or at least, he tried. Pretty much like his tongue, his fingers were suddenly black and totally iced up, making him drop his foci and his face crunched up in a mask of total disbelief and agony.

“You see, Albus,” She murmured, yet in the stillness of the room her voice was well heard. “I won’t chance you, or you little Snappy, to harm those I love. You killed Harry, now you die.”

“Neenie?” For the first time since they were brought in the chamber Luna spoke. Her voice was weak and scratchy after all the crying she had been doing in the last day.

Hermione stiffened for a second, before she turned to on her spot to face her. Draco could see her eyes had changed, long gone was the brown and the almost black blue was back. It reminded him of the eyes she sported all those days ago when she had had her melt down on the Potion classroom… all because she had wanted to kill Cho Chang. _‘So that’s what that glint in her eyes was.’_ He thought. _‘It’s bloodlust.’_

“I’m sorry, Love.” Hermione whispered, her voice pained and still forced. “I must kill him; I cannot let them harm you or Draco.”

“No.” This time it was the blond wizard who spoke. “You don’t need to do this. Let’s call the Aurors, let them deal with him. You are not a murderer.”

The brunette simply shook her head, retuning her stare to the man that had started all this. “He needs to die. They both do.” Holding up her hand she let her magic form a long icicle, smooth and thin at the point, and rough and wide at the base.

“Hermione! No!” Luna cried when the older witch held on the old, whimpering, man’s shoulder with her free hand, aligning the thin point with the wizard’s heart.

“Sorry, but I really don’t trust the Killing Curse.” The Gryffindor commented to Dumbledore, ignoring Luna’s voice. “I came back, and so will Harry, I can’t let _you_ come back.”

“Hermione!” Draco yelled as he tried to fight with his binds and failing miserably. “We are not monsters. We are not Candice, Richard or Lucius. Goddamit, woman! We are not Voldemort or Bellatrix!” He howled in desperation, his friend could not cross that line. She could not murder someone, someone unarmed and at her mercy.

Hermione stopped, and for a second she hesitated, before her quite voice could be heard over Draco’s futile attempts of breaking his chains. “No, we are not.” She looked at them from over her shoulder, noticing how Harry was indeed starting to wake up. Something in her eyes had changed, just like something had changed in Harry’s. “But they marked us, and made us what we are now.”

“What happened to the girl that was so scared of being like them?! Of being a monster?!” Luna screeched, she too was trying to free herself to stop the older witch.

“She died.” And with that, in a swift and quick motion, the ice dagger penetrated the old man’s chest and punctured his heart, killing him in a second. At his side, the ice-trapped Snape’s eyes widened just a second before his prison exploded inwards, all the ice shards hitting him with dead accuracy and letting him join his Master in their next great adventure. She never saw the look of utter horror her Luna, her beloved Luna, shot her way.

Two snapping sounds were heard, one followed immediately from the other, and, as Hermione let the ice in the room melt completely, the loud crack of a Portkey allowed a small contingent of wizards and witches drop in the middle of the ground, wands at the ready and looking around frantically.

‘ _Why is that they **always** arrive just as the bad guy dies?’ _ Was the last thing Hermione thought before all hell broke loose.


	13. Chapter 13

# Chapter Fifty–Two - Alone

In the stillness of the night the softly tap of the raindrops was barely heard. Every once in a while a bright flash, followed by a muted thunder, would make its presence known. On the window panel, the soft tears from the sky raced each other in a jumble mix of trails that were interrupted every so often by the landing of yet another lonely drop. The darkness beyond the window forbade her from looking something other than her own reflection, the path of her own tears getting lost in those on the glass… just as the rain sounds got lost in her quiet singing.

 _“… Goodnight, my angel,_  
Now it's time to sleep,  
And still so many things I want to say,”

 _“Remember all the songs you sang for me,_  
When we went sailing on an emerald bay,  
And like a boat out on the ocean,”

 _“I'm rocking you to sleep,_  
The water's dark and deep,  
Inside this ancient hea-”

“I never pegged you as the singing type.” She smiled at the interruption. Of course he would be with her today.

“Your mother taught it to me… Mama used to sing me to sleep, every night, according to her.”

He nodded as he went to sit beside her on the windowsill. “It’s the same tune of your music box.”

“Aye.”

The young wizard sighed and looked at his own tired reflection on the glass. “You’re really leaving, then.” It was not a question, not really, as they both knew she had already made up her mind.

“I have no choice.”

He scoffed. “You are running away, Mia. That’s not really very Gryffindor of you.”

Hermione echoed his scoff. “I stopped being a true Gryffindor the moment I met her.”

“ _Her_ name is Luna.” Draco reminded her.

“ _She_ asked me to never say her name again… or to come close to her, talk to her, touch her and practically see her…” The brunette gulped. “I don’t think I could stay here and still do as she asked me to.”

Draco sighed. “Luna didn’t mean it, I’m sure.”

Hermione closed her eyes; two fat drops ran down her cheeks. “You didn’t see her face… she hates me.”

“She loves you. We all do.”

The witch simply rested her forehead in the cool glass, remembering the last three months of her miserable life.

Killing Dumbledore was easily justified, as was Snape’s murder, the four of them simply told the Aurors their tale, how they left to find answers and how they had been abducted by Snape and how the two younger Weasleys had been the ones who tipped their location. Ron and Ginny had been arrested a couple of hours after they were rescued, and, after being interrogated under Veritaserum, they had confessed to calling the old goat Master and helping him with his stupid plot to reenter the Britain community as a hero. The two of them were sentenced to Azkaban for five years in the hopes that they would not repeat their mistakes as they had not really being that helpful to the old wizard and so they had felt that punishment was more than enough.

The four runaway teens had been suspended from school for a couple of weeks. Officially, that was their punishment for missing week and a half of classes and making themselves disappear from the magical world. Unofficially it was the time it took their respective parents and guardians to feel that they were, indeed, safe. During that time they were forced apart from one another, each leaving to be grounded to not see the outside of their houses and not contact each other. Minerva did not try to punish her more than the grounding; she would have hated to tell her she no longer hold that right over her, no matter how much a part of her longed for her to care enough to fight her over that… that the Headmistress did not push for a more physical punishment was indeed worse than the grounding on itself, not that she was ready to admit, even to herself, that fact.

That this was the second time Hermione managed to deceive the Ministry’s wards was not lost on anybody, but fortunately it was not even commented.

The punishment they were subject to was not that hard, really. They could not loose House Points because every time the Headmistress tried to take points from Gryffindor and Slytherin, the points were simply reinstated and nobody understood the reason why until they finally noticed that the four had their robes as black as when they first bought them. Harry, Draco and Hermione were no longer members of their Houses and so the three of them turned in their Prefect badges and the boys immediately lost their positions on the Quidditch’s teams. It marveled nobody most than themselves what little those loses meant for them.

The rest of the school now treated her like she had the plague. News of her being Voldemort’s daughter had leaked as soon as Ginny and Ron were back from helping kidnapping them. The whole school was scared of her and more often than not students fled when she approached them in the hallways. There was nothing for her in the castle other than her friends, but Draco was a good looking bloke with charisma and Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice and they were safe from the school’s fear and hate. Those two would understand her leaving.

“I’m leaving too.” Draco interrupted her thoughts.

Hermione opened her eyes, shocked. “What? Why?”

The blond wizard sniffed and for a moment he was the same arrogant Malfoy brat she hated all those years ago. “You’re leaving and I’m pretty sure Harry is too if we are gone.”

“Really?” Those were some news to her. By no means had she stopped talking to the two men that made her life bearable, but this was the first time she heard they too were running away.

“Mother wants me to go to Durmstrang, as Aunt Bella asked her to. I told Harry that and he hinted he may join me if I go there next year.”

The brunette smiled. At least two of them would be together. “That’s nice of him.” Draco simply echoed her smile, small and sad. “Where is he?” Seeing one without the other was a rare sign these days, the two of them were practically joined at the hip, just like _she_ and Hermione had been once upon a time. Maybe it should not have surprised her that much that Harry was leaving with Draco after all. Had she not known better she could have think they harbored feelings for each other.

The wizard smile disappeared and she feared they too had fought. “It’s the last day of term, your Portkey leaves tomorrow night… he is trying to convince Luna to come talk to you… as I’m supposed to be convincing you to try one last time to explain her why.”

Hermione felt a stab in her heart when he said her name, and that stab simply tore at her heart when he said they were trying to give her once last chance of seeing the young witch… she had not laid eyes on her ever since a week after they were back from their suspension.

Not only had _she_ accused her of murdering in cold blood, which she had accept she had done, but she had also simply labeled as a monster, no better than Voldemort or Grindelwald. She accepted that too, but what she had not being prepared to accept was that it was simply too much for the young blonde witch.

Hermione’s chat with Bellatrix had opened her eyes. Those urges she had had when she was younger to harm those that did not do as her bidding, those urges to suddenly push someone in front of a moving car, those urges she sometimes felt of drawing the blood of one she felt was an enemy, as many other urges she some time or another had felt throughout her life now had a reasonable explanation… it was the dark left in her by those rituals and runes placed on her by her parents when she was a newborn. It was the dark that had lurked in her and had tempted her more than once, it was the dark she had decided to embrace the day she killed Dumbledore and Snape.

She was not turning evil, no, she simply accepted herself as she was and had allowed her to follow through with the need to protect those she loved.

Draco and Harry had understood that. Apparently Harry had met his mother too in the Nowhere and Lily Potter had pretty much told him the same tale her Mama had told her and he had come to accept his urges too, even if his were a lot duller. Draco, being son to a Malfoy and a Black, had the better understanding of Dark magic of all of them and had simply accepted two of his best friend had the ‘pull’ on them. It took him a while longer than Harry, but he never shun her or made her feel bad, he simply asked for a small amount of time to think things through before voicing a verdict. He was still her best friend and the one who had helped her the most in her now single status.

 _She_ , however, was simply born in a Light family, raised to hate the dark and still too young to fully comprehend the reasons why the older witch had changed. No, Hermione did not change; she simply decided to be true to herself.  She had vowed not to lose _her_ when they had been captives at Dumbledore’s house in Ireland, but she had lost _her_ all the same.

 _She_ did not even yell at her. She did not screamed or even hit her once. She had simply told her in an eerily calm voice that she would not be with someone so blatantly _degenerated._ Hermione was forbidden to ever again talk to her, seek her and mentioning her name. _She_ asked Minerva to change her quarters, far away from her and in a secluded enough location that not even Hermione’s endless knowledge of the castle would allow the ex-Gryffindor to find _her._ All tries to pledge her case, to explain her reasons, the _why_ she needed to finish those bastards, why she had ‘changed’ felt on deaf ears. It took Hermione a week, seven days filled with endless begging, screaming, crying and overall misery, to finally understand that _she_ would stay firm to her word. The brunette never got a chance to explain the way her soul had been tampered with, nor that she would try her hardest to be as ‘good’ as possible without losing herself. Maybe if _she_ consented to a small talk before she was gone, maybe she would be able to finally explain. Maybe if she would listen once, maybe she would be able to save their friendship, their love, themselves. Maybe…

The door of the Common Room she still shared with the boys opened and Harry entered, his head down and his body screaming of failure. He raised his eyes and unnatural green met blue-flaked brown with a sorrow so deep that Hermione’s heart skipped a beat. The younger wizard closed his eyes pained and shook his head sadly, an action that was soon copied by the witch.

She would never get her chance to explain herself after all.

XxXxX

[ _Some months later…_ ]

“You asked to see me, Headmistress?”

“Yes, Miss Lovegood, please take a seat.”

Luna sat before the huge desk that looked more littered than she ever had seen before and eyed the old witch frowning. The Headmistress’ hair, once glossy and always well-kept was now dull and several strands of it were out the tight bun she usually wore, making look like a maniac on full moon. Her skin was pale and even she could see that it was more paper like than the silk that was so common in the McGonagall clan. Her eyes sported rings under them, and the once vibrant green was replaced with a murky imitation of the Black Lake. She looked at least a hundred years older than the last time she saw her. “Are you okay, Headmistress?”

Minerva sighed. No she was not, but this girl in front of her could not help her make things better, only worse. “I’m fine, Miss Lovegood, just a little behind work.” She busied herself with a couple of papers that even to Luna seemed to be in the wrong place, before coming up with a small, thick envelope. “I was asked to give this to you, Luna.”

The blonde witch raised an eyebrow, the change of name not lost to her. She glanced at the envelope, noticing the flowing script in which her name had been written and the parchment it was written on. Instantly she knew who had sent her the letter. “I don’t want it.” She stated simply.

Minerva sighed again, tired. “Please take it. What you do to it once you leave here is up to you.”

Luna glared at the envelope, the sadness and anger she felt towards Hermione still strong enough to make her blood boil. It really did not help her that she missed her too, she missed her too much for it to be healthy, but she must stay strong. Hermione needed to realize she had acted wrong, that no matter how much she justified herself she still had killed two grown men, even when Luna herself had asked her not to. “I don’t want anything from someone who kills in cold blood.”

“Did she?”

The younger with blinked at that. “What?”

“Did she really kill them in cold blood? You were their hostages and Dumbledore didn’t hesitate to kill both Hermione and Harry that night.” The Headmistress closed her eyes and rested her head tenderly in the back of her chair. That sole action added a couple of decades to her already frail look. “Had she not kill them they would probably kill you and Draco too. You know that.”

“They were trapped and unarmed, that is what makes it all wrong.”

“But so were you. We had your wands, the wands that had been left at the Grangers, and you were chained and unable to move… tell me how that is different from them?”

“So? She still killed them. _That_ is wrong.”

“Harry killed You-Know-Who, too.”

“That’s different.”

“How so?”

“You-Know-Who was evil.”

“And Dumbledore and Snape weren’t? You need to remember they kidnapped you and tried to kill you. Dumbledore also tried to kill Harry more than once in his attempts to lure You-Know-Who to him _and_ Snape was a Death Eater and he made horrible things in both wars. Why are they different?”

Luna glared at the now expectant looking Headmistress. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She said as she crossed her arms stubbornly.

Minerva nodded. She too was tired of talking about that matter. “Fair enough. Take your letter and you are free to leave, Miss Lovegood.”

“I’m not taking it.”

“Please, Miss Lovegood. Just take it. Hermione needs you to have it.”

Luna scoffed. “Is _she_ really this desperate to talk to me?” The Headmistress simply looked at her sadly. “Maybe I’d just let _Hermione_ tell it to my face, no?” She asked mockingly as she snatched the letter from the older witch’s upstretched hand. She rose from her seat and looked coldly at the woman the love of her life called mother. “Is _she_ and the boys still in the same rooms?”

She needed to ask because in the month that had passed since the new school year started she had not seen Harry and Draco flying around, or Hermione in the Library, or none of them walking around the halls, hurrying to class. In fact, she had not seen them at all.

“Misters Potter and Malfoy decided to transfer to Durmstrang Institute for the rest of their education.”

A huge weight fell on Luna’s stomach. _‘No, no, no, no!’_ She thought desperately. That could not mean… “And Neenie?” Unconsciously she reverted to the name she would always call Hermione, the woman she still loved even when she was mad, in her mind.

The Headmistress deflated and, even when it looked impossible, she aged again before her eyes. “She dropped out. Last time I heard of her she was installing in New York… I believe she was planning on settling another restaurant there.”

Luna sat heavily on the chair she just vacated, her body no longer able to support her. No matter how mad she was at them, she was still counting on having them around. She was still counting on seeing her face at least once a week. All the anger she felt towards her Hermione suddenly vapored when faced with the truth that there was a great chance of not seeing her again. “And you let her?!” She asked desperately. “You are her guardian!”

Minerva simply shook her head. “A week ago she turned of age, Luna; even if I wanted her to attend she’d leave as soon as she’s turned seventeen. And frankly, I lost the right to be part of her life.”

“What?” Luna could not believe her ears. “Even if she didn’t need you she loved when you were there, she loved having someone in her corner, ready to catch her is she failed. How could you abandon her?” Hermione had been alone most of her life, she need someone to help her, look out for her, take care of her… she simply was miserable alone, she was so, so devastated when on her own. She now had no one with her, no Draco, no Harry, no Minerva… no Luna. The blonde’s heart shattered there and then. Hermione was gone, far away and alone.

The Headmistress smiled sadly, a lonely tear running down her cheek. “I believe the question is, how could _we_ abandon her.”


	14. Epilogue

# Epilogue

_My beloved Luna:_

_I cannot say I am sorry for I am not. What I did has no excuses, but I simply could not let them hurt you, you and the boys. I am, however, sorry I hurt you and I sorely wish that pain has lessened some in these months._

_As I’m writing this letter the chimes on my clock tell me I’m officially an adult. Time flies by, isn’t it? I guess felicitations are in order, you turned fourteen not too long ago, so, even when it’s a couple of months late, let me tell you: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! As you can see the envelope also contains your present, guard it well it is special not only for me, but for someone I love and long to meet again after I’ve live a long, and hopefully, happy life. The music box is still in my house in Lewisham, but as soon as I can I’ll be owling it to you, it may take me a couple of months at least, but it’s yours, keep that well too, okay?_

_I… I still love you, Luna, so very much, and I pray to the stars that maybe one day, when we both have learn more and live more, I’ll be able to see you again. But in the meantime, know that my heart will beat for you and my mind will always soar to you. Even if we are not to meet again, I’ll always love you and I’ll miss you, all these miles away. May love will always reach you, though time and space._

_Stay Forever True, Luna, for the only thing we truly have is ourselves and we need to cherish that. And, then, then, no matter what choices we make, my Love, they will always be the right ones._

_Until we met again,  
Hermione Capella Black_

XxXxX

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Reading a love letter.”

“Uh?”

Luna smiled sadly as her partner sat beside her on the couch. “Here, read this.” She passed the worn piece of parchment as she cuddled into the warm body next to her. Even after all these years she was as sensitive to the cold as she was when she was thirteen.

Her partner scoffed. “This thing is years old!”

Luna hummed. “Eleven years, Sweetie.” Eleven years had passed, eleven years filled with tribulations and battles. Eleven years filled with so many sad and happy moments, with days of joy and days of utter agony. And yet, those eleven years would be some she would never ask to change.

“Really?!” Her partner asked rather shocked. “Wow. We are old.”

The blonde witch giggled. “I’m not. You, on the other hand, are reaching the third decade fairly fast.” She yelped when she was pinched on the side. “Although you still act like a five years-old most of the time.”

“And for that you are not getting any ice-cream tonight.”

Luna pouted. “Aw, come on! I was joking!”

Her partner smirked. “So was I, there’s no ice-cream.” The once Ravenclaw’s glare was more than enough to freeze hell over, yet it did nothing to erase the smirk on the other witch’s face. Her glare did disappear when the other woman gently cupped her cheek. “Let it go, Love. Everything is in the past.”

Luna whimpered when she was kissed her with the tenderest care she ever experienced, as she was always kissed when _she_ knew Luna was upset about something. The kiss lasted for a good while, in which Luna could not help but think of the years past.

It had taken them five years to find each other. Her time at Hogwarts after Hermione left her was passed studying and readying herself to be a witch her Neenie could be proud of. She found her animamus form and had spent many evenings flying around the Black Lake. She never joined any House, preferring to remain Houseless even when Headmistress McGonagall offered her to be re-sorted more than once, and she was somewhat happy. Yes, she made some friends, especially with the younger years, but they could never be as close as Draco and Harry were with her, but they helped.

It took her a while to stop hurting every day, but the guilt never left her. She knew she had been the one to drive Hermione away, thanks to her Harry and Draco decided to study in Durmstrang instead of staying at Hogwarts. It was her fault she was left behind and both her and her Neenie had to be alone. She had been stubborn and childish, not letting Hermione explain anything and not letting themselves have a chance to fix things.

So, after five years of learning and growing, she was out of school and moving to America to work on her potion’s Mastery under Master Whitlock who had apprenticeship under her mother the infamous Selene Nightingale. He was, amazingly enough, the last wizard that became a Master under her mother before the old witch died in that terrible accident. So, she moved to a little commune off Ohio to study and train. Nothing would really prepare her for what was awaiting for her.

“Hey, come back to me, Love.” Her partner called to her, her deep brown eyes, with just a little blue on the edges, were filled with concern. “What are you thinking about?”

Luna could not help it. Her own grey eyes started filling with tears, still carrying a burden so great she sometimes wondered how she was able to move. “Us.” And with that, she crumbled onto the taller woman’s chest, her sobs wrenching her lithe body and breaking her lover’s heart.

Fate loved them, she had decided a long time ago. In the little commune she met her again. Her Neenie had just moved in too, and was looking forward to learn a thing or two with her Master, even if the older witch was not really looking to gain her Mastery. Dropping out school meant nothing to the brunette, a year after she left Hogwarts she sat her American NEWT’s and managed to break the records of most O’s obtained at the same time. A year after that, she became the youngest Master of both Arithmancy and Runes in the New World. She then proceeded to merge her Muggle background with her magic and create a company which excelled in adapting Muggle technology to the everyday wizard’s life. By the time they met again she was as rich as she could get and was looking to return to the student life, starting with potions and, amazingly enough, divination, hence her move to the commune.

The first meeting they had had been awkward and painful, but, little by little, in the three years it cost Luna gain her Mastery, they had mended the bridges that had been burned all those years ago when they had both been too stubborn to budge from what they believed was the true. After five years they had both matured more, enough to understand the reasoning of the other and agreeing to disagree could be the answer for many things… they had put the past in the past and leave it there, for the rest of their lives.

The dating phase of their life began anew then, and no one could be happier than Draco and Harry, both which were already in committed relationships, Harry engaged to Padma Patil, nobody knew when that relationship started, and Draco married to an expecting Daphne Greengrass, who later gave birth to Hermione’s goddaughter, little Elara Callisto Malfoy… better known as Mini-Ella as she was a little Hermione in all but appearances.

Two years of serious dating later, Master Luna Lovegood became Master Luna Black. Hermione had officially changed her name as soon as she turned seventeen, embracing the name it had been given to her by her loving father, but opting to keep the Hermione her mother had chosen for her when she saved her life at the age of two. So, naturally, Luna had been more than happy to accept her lover’s name that very same day, that very same day all these memories were coming back, the day they were married in both the magical and Muggle world.

It had been a lovely ceremony, small and private with only a handful of guests. Draco, Harry, Narcissa, Minerva, who still was Hermione’s Mama on Earth, Xeno, Remus, Tamsin and Sirius were there of course. Friends from their past and present were all standing with them in the second most special day of their lives. The most special day was when they met again, after all.

“Neenie?” The blonde witch asked her brand new wife.

“Yes, my Little Moon?”

“Never let go?”

Hermione’s eyes turned tender, her own tears threatening to fall at any minute now. “I want to show you something.” She got up from the couch on their presidential suite, the one Harry had gifted them to spend the first two weeks of their Honeymoon before they left to enjoy Draco’s gift, a month-long cruise around the Mediterrean Islands.

“Neenie?” Luna whimpered when the older witch left the room in order to search something in their bedroom. As it was now her habit, and habit she developed when she was first left alone at Hogwarts, she started playing with the circular medallion that once had been Hermione’s and that had been passed to her as her fourteen birthday’s present. The music box it opened had arrived that December and she had gotten used to listen to it every night before sleep claimed her, something that Hermione had too gotten used to and now they could not leave their house for the night without it.

“I’m here, Little Moon, I’m here.” And with the ease she never really lost in those eleven years, she swiftly sat and pulled the smaller witch in her lap. “Easy now, Love, I’m here.”

Luna could not help but marvel at how, no matter how many years had passed, their roles still stayed the same. Hermione would care for her and look out for her wellbeing, comforting her and loving her as only she could, while Luna would challenge the older witch, would help her temper, her anger, and would be there to catch her if she fell. “I know.” She sniffed. “I’m sorry I’m spoiling our wedding night.”

Hermione smirked again and wiggled her eyebrows. Luna would never tire of that smirk. “I’m not. I’m still sore after last night. A woman my age needs a little recovery time.”

Luna chuckled and slapped her on the arm. “Prat.”

The brunette also chuckled. “No, really, I wanted to show you this.” She presented the younger witch with a piece of parchment that had seen better days. “So, what do you think?”

Luna looked at her Neenie with trepidation, she was way too eager for her to see that piece of parchment, and when Hermione was eager she either had a brilliant idea or a stupid idea… which most of the cases were the same, really. Shaking her head at the silliness of her wife, she loved how that word sounded, she looked at the drawing and froze.

It was a Family Crest, of that she was sure… but other than that, the rest made no sense. Or it did, but it should not, not really.

She could easily identify a moon and, even when the drawing was black and white, she could tell that the moon was new, not full. It was placed on the top half of the shield, a shield that had no divisions, and it hung back alone, in a black background, so the moon looked even more impressive and regal. A lone black bird soared over it, too small to disturb the lonely moon, but big enough that she immediately recognized that the bird was a black raven, swooping down towards the second part of the shield.

In the bottom part was what could only be described as a frozen forest, sitting against the same deep blackness. I was obviously home to another animal, which, in this case, was flying up to meet the raven and had just reached above the top of the trees. Luna did not need to look too closely to know that was an elegant, small, swan.

The shield lacked a helm,            coroner, order and a crest, but was supported on either side by a black rattle snake and a white fox, while bellow the shield a long ribbon showed the Family motto: Per Sempre Vero.

“Wha-” Luna could not really comprehend what she was being showed. Being born into an old wizarding family she had to study most, if not all, the Family crests that were out there. This one she had never seen.

“Sirius is giving me the Head of House when I turn thirty.” Hermione told her younger wife. “I’ve talk to him and he agrees that the Black family needs a change of crest… and motto.”

The blonde witch blinked at that, stunned. To change an Ancient and Noble House’s crest was not only unheard of, it was unimaginable. Those crests were almost sacred, yet, she could easily believe the love of her life would be one witch to change one of them. It was a brilliant and a stupid idea alright. The meaning behind all the symbols was not lost to her and she had to smile thinking on them.

The frozen forest was obviously Hermione as the moon was simply Luna. Their animagus were no secret to any either. She loved to transform into her raven form and fly for hours with her beloved swan. That those two really had not enjoyed flying at school was not lost to them and was something that always made their friends laugh. And that Harry, who once swore Draco was a snake animagus, was the one who became a serpent was also fire to their laughter. Nobody was really sure, though, how it was that the proud Malfoy became a fox. “Really?”

“I told you this would be our motto when we married… at that time I hadn’t planned on being a Black, but, even if we have to wait another year, this will become our family crest. Really, Love.”

Luna smiled and cuddled back to her wife. “I love it.” She kissed her woman gently on the lips. “And I love you, Neenie.”

“No more that I you.”

“Neenie?”

“Mmm?”

“Make love to me?”

Hermione grinned and gently cradled her wife in her arms as she made her way to their bedroom, using the featherlight spell almost without thinking after all these years. She did not need to answer her wife’s question, no. She would let her hands and lips do the talking, she would let them show her Little Moon how much she was loved. A love that had started to grow almost thirteen years ago and only grew stronger as each day had passed.

Because, no matter what troubles they ran into, what fights they had or how they clashed, both of them had chosen to be true to themselves, and, thanks to that, be true to each other.

 

 


	15. Author's Note

I'm so sorry it took me this long to update the story. To make it up to you I posted all the rest in one go.

 

Life has been dificult this last year. Many things have changed, both within me and around me... and yet they still remain the same.

 

Luna/Hermione, and my love for it, still goes on. Even when I find it difficult to write or even read sometimes, the ideas are still there and are making myself crazy with plots and stories.

 

I've been told to write an original story, to make a living out my hobbie, and while I'd love to do that, it really seems that my inspiration to write an original piece is non-existent, so I'll simply keep going with my fandoms and I'll keep going that way.

 

Thank you all that left kudos and those that don't but still read. I love you guys and I hope to see you around when I start posting my next story. I'll try to acually post it chapter by chapter, as it should be done, but then agian I might ended up pairing the chapters in one post sometimes...

 

Read ya later, and thank you!!


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